^Y  OF  PRlNCfJgN. 


^OtOGICAL  SE<ft\^ 


"^«°«.    John   M      ,,, 

^^"^ch    Of   ^^ 


ESSAYS 


CHURCH  OF   GOD 


IN  -WHICH  THE  DOCTRINES  OF 


CHURCH  MEMERSHIP  AND  INFANT  BAPTISM 


ARE    FULLT    DISCUSSED. 


REV.  JOHN  m/mASON,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

PaCL   T.   JONES,   PUBLISHING   AGENT. 

184^. 


Printed  by 

WILLIAM    S.    MARTIEN. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
ESSAY  I. 

Church  of  God.  Of  the  term  Church,    .    .    5 


ESSAY  ir. 

On  the  first  organization  of  the  Church,    .        .      29 

ESSAY  III. 
On  the  mode  of  perpetuating  the  Visible  Church,      48 

ESSAY  IV. 
Initiating  Seal, .61 

ESSAY  V. 
Infant  members, 80 

ESSAY  VI. 
Uses, •        .        .114 


Page 
ESSAY  VII. 

Uses, 134 


ESSAY  VIII. 
Results, 1^1 


CHURCH  OF  GOD. 

ESSAY   I. 

OF  THE  TERM  CHURCH. 

It  is  our  intention  to  lay  before  our  readers 
in  the  course  of  this  work,  a  detailed  but 
succinct  account  of  the  Church  of  God,  em- 
bracing the  chief  questions  concerning  its 
nature,  members,  officers,  order,  worship, 
and  the  points  directly  connected  with  them. 
As  we  shall  proceed  upon  a  regular  plan,  the 
reader  is  requested  not  to  form  his  judgment 
of  the  whole  from  an  inspection  of  a  part; 
and  not  to  disjoin  in  his  reflections,  those 
parts  which  precede  from  those  which  fol- 
low; but  to  recur  to  the  former  as  he  meets 
with  the  latter,  that  the  series  of  thought 
may  be  preserved  unbroken  in  his  mind;  and 
that  he  may  not  accuse  us  hereafter  with 
being  superficial  or  negligent,  when  the 
blame  ought  possibly  to  be  attached  to  his 
own  memory.  For  having  proved  a  point 
once,  we  shall  not  repeat  the  proof  after- 
2 


6  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

wards,  unless  for  very  particular  reasons,  and 
in  a  very  summary  way.     We  begin  with 

AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  MEANING  OF  THE  TERM  CHURCH. 

A  community  which  has  subsisted  for  ages, 
must  always  possess  a  number  of  usages  and 
terms  peculiar  to  itself.  And  although  their 
origin  may  be  remote,  and  their  force  un- 
known to  mairy  of  its  members,  they  suggest 
general  ideas  which  serve  the  purposes  of 
common  conversation  and  common  life.  The 
fact  may  appear  extraordinary,  but  it  is  never- 
theless true ;  for  the  proportion  of  men  in  any 
society  who  analyze  the  words  and  phrases 
which  they  have  been  accustomed  to  utter 
ever  since  they  were  able  to  speak,  is  com- 
paratively small.  The  reader  can  bring  this 
matter  to  an  easy  test  by  interrogating  him- 
self concerning  expressions  which  are  coeval 
with  his  earliest  recollection;  and  he  will 
probably  be  surprised  to  find  that,  in  thou- 
sands of  instances,  they  have  passed  and  re- 
passed through  his  mind  Vv^ithout  his  attempt- 
ing to  arrest  them  long  enough  to  satisfy 
himself  as  to  their  appropriate  sense.  This 
want  of  precision  is  accompanied  with  no 
bad  effect,  till  something  occur  to  touch  an 
institution,  a  privilege,  or  an  observance, 
when  the  inconvenience  may  be  sensibly 
felt.  A  popular  notion  is  often  overturned 
by  the  interpretation  of  a  word;  and  the 
multitude  are  astonished  either  at  their  own 
mistake,  or  at  the  effrontery  of  those  who 
charge  them  with  committing  it. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  7 

That  which  happens  to  all  other  durable 
combinations  of  men,  must  happen  to  the 
Christian  Society.  We  need  go  no  further  for 
an  example  than  its  very  name.  "  Church," 
''  Christian  Church,"  "  Church  of  God,"  are 
familiar  to  the  mouths  of  millions.  They  talk 
of  "the  Church"  upon  all  occasions,  without 
suspecting  that  perhaps  they  understand  not 
what  they  say.  They  possibly  never  asked, 
lohat  is  the  Church?  Possibly,  they  may 
think  it  too  plain  to  deserve  an  answer.  Pos- 
sibly, also,  the  more  they  revolve  it,  the  more 
they  may  be  puzzled.  Try  the  experiment. 
Put  the  question  successively  to  several  de- 
cent, intelligent  men,  and  their  replies,  vari- 
ous as  their  previous  religious  habits,  will 
convince  you  that  their  acquaintance  with 
the  subject  is  slight  indeed.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  go  to  first  principles. 

The  word  "Church,"  derived  from  the 
Greek  xv^iaxov,  signifies  "the  house  of  the 
Lord;"  and  marks  the  property  which  he 
has  in  it.  But  the  original  words  which  it  is 
employed  to  translate,  signify  a  different 
thing.  The  Hebrew  words  {cahal)  and 
(gheda)  in  the  Old  Testament;  and  the  cor- 
responding one  ixx'Krioia  [ecclesia)  in  the  New, 
all  signify  an  assembly,  especially  one  con- 
vened by  invitation  or  appointment.  That 
this  is  in  their  generic  sense,  no  scholar  will 
deny;  nor  that  their  particular  applications 
are  ultimately  resolvable  into  it.  Hence  it  is 
evident,  that  from  the  terms  themselves  no- 
thing can  be  concluded  as  to  the  nature  or 


8  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

extent  of  the  assembly  which  they  denote. 
Whenever  either  of  the  two  former  occurs  in 
the  Old  Testament,  or  the  other  in  the  New, 
you  are  sure  of  an  assembly,  but  of  nothing 
more.  What  that  assembly  is,  and  whom  it 
comprehends,  you  must  learn  from  the  con- 
nexion of  the  term,  and  the  subject  of  the 
writer.  A  few  instances  will  exemplify  the 
remark. 

In  the  Old  Testament  {cahal)  is  appUed 

To  the  whole  mass  of  the  people.  Exodus  xii.  6. 
To  a  portion  of  the  people,  who  came  upon  Hezekiah's 
invitation  to  keep  the  passover.  2  Chron.  xxx.  24. 
To  the  army  of  Pharaoh.  Ezek.  xvii.  17. 
To  an  indefinite  multitude.  Gen.  xxviii.  3. 
To  the  society  of  Simeon  and  Levi.  Gen.  xlix.  6. 

So  also  {gheda)  is  applied 

To  the  whole  nation  of  Israel.  Exod.  xvi.  22;  xxxv,  1. 

To  the  particular  company  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abi- 
ram.  Numb.  xvi.  16. 

To  the  assembly  of  the  just,  as  opposed  to  the  wicked. 
Psal.  i.  5. 

To  the  judicatory,  before  which  crimes  were  tried. 
Numb.  xxxv.  12. 24 ;  compared  with  Deut.  xix.  12. 17, 18. 

In  like  manner  ixxxj^crca,  (ecclesia)  rendered 
"  Church,"  is  applied 

To  the  whole  body  of  the  redeemed.  Ephes.  v.  24.  27. 

To  the  whole  body  of  professing  Christians.  1  Cor.  xii.  28. 

To  local  organizations  of  professing  Christians,  whether 
more  or  less  extensive;  as  in  the  apostolic  salutations,  and 
inscriptions  of  the  epistles. 

To  a  small  association  of  Christians  meeting  together 
in  a  private  house.  Col.  iv.  15 — Phil.  i.  2. 

To  a  civil  assembly  lawfully  convened.  Acts  xix.  39. 

To  a  body  of  people  irregularly  convened.  Acts  xix.  32. 

This  specimen  is  sufficient  to  show  that  no 
person  can  answer  the  question,  "  what  is  the 
Church?'^  without  carefully  examining  the 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  y 

thing  as  well  as  the  name:  nor  safely  ex- 
pound either,  without  consulting  the  original 
Scriptures;  or  putting  himself  implicitly  under 
the  direction  of  one  who  is  able  to  do  it  for 
him.  An  attempt  to  discuss  the  constitution 
and  order  of  the  Church,  without  looking 
much  further  and  much  deeper  than  the  mere 
term,  as  it  occurs  in  our  English  Bibles,  can 
never  be  any  better  than  childish  prattle. 

I  have  said  that  the  term  "Church"  is 
apphed  to  the  whole  body  of  professing 
Christians;  and  my  design  is  to  prove  that 
the  Scriptures  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  Visi- 
ble Church  Catholic,  composed  of  all  those 
throughout  the  world  who  profess  the  true 
rehgion. 

This  great  society  is  a  "  Church,"  because 
it  is  collected  together  by  the  authority  of 
God  in  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel,  and 
solemnly  set  apart  from  the  world  for  sacred 
uses. 

This  church  is  "  visible,"  as  distinguished 
from  the  "elect  of  God,"  who  are  known  to 
him  alone;  and,  therefore,  cannot,  as  sicch, 
form  a  separate  society  among  men. 

This  visible  church  is  "  Catholic,"  that  is, 
it  comprehends  all  those  "  throughout  the 
Avorld  that  profess  the  true  religion." 

If  then  I  am  asked  what  I  mean  by  the 
"Church?"  I  answer,  that  visible  catholic 
society  which  I  have  now  defined;  which  is 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  upon 
earth,  where  he  has  deposited  his  truth,  and 
instituted  his  ordinances. 


10  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

The  fact  that  he  has  founded  such  a  church, 
I  thus  demonstrate. 

1.  It  is  mdisputable  that  such  a  church  did 
formerly  exist,  and  that  by  his  own  appoint- 
ment. 

The  Avhole  of  the  covenanted  seed  of  Abra- 
ham belonged  to  it.  That  this  "  seed'^  made 
up  the  church  of  God  under  the  law ;  that  it 
embraced,  at  least  in  some  periods,  thousands 
and  ten  thousands  within  and  without  the 
land  of  Judea,  and  among  them  multitudes 
who  never  were  partakers  of  sa,ving  grace, 
cannot  be  doubted.  Every  one  who  had  the 
token  of  God's  covenant  in  his  flesh,  whether 
regenerated  or  not,  was  reputed  a  member 
of  this  church.  The  Jews  were  scattered,  by 
several  dispersions,  through  distant  lands; 
yet  preserving  the  name  of  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  their  profession  of  adherence  to 
him,  they  were  never  considered  as  cast  out 
of  his  church.  On  this  ground  it  was,  that, 
on  the  day  of  pentecost,  "there  were  dwelling 
at  Jerusalem,  Jews,  devout  men,  out  oi every 
nation  under  heaven.^^  Acts  ii.  5.  The  old 
economy  was  subjected  to  local  restrictions 
which  rendered  a  universal  dispensation  im- 
possible while  they  lasted,  but  still  the  "  pro- 
fessors of  the  true  religion,"  the  worshippers 
of  the  God  of  Israel,  made  up  but  one  church. 
Reside  where  they  might,  they  all  belonged 
to  the  cahal  Jehovah  the  congregation  of  the 
Lord. 

If,  then,  there  is  no  longer  any  public 
church  visible,  what  has  become  of  it?  Who 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  11 

has  annulled,  destroyed,  blotted  it  out  ?  Pro 
duce  a  single  declaration  of  its  divine  author 
that  it  should  come  to  an  end.     The  disin- 
heriting of  the  unhappy  Jews  is  nothing  to 
the  purpose,  or  rather  supports  the  contrary. 
Their  being  cast  out  of  the  visible  church, 
for  they  could  not  be  cast  out  of  any  other, 
implies  the  existence  of  that  church,  and  the 
privilege  of  connexion  with  her.     The  abo- 
lition of  those  restrictions  which  were  suited 
to  a  preparatory  state,  fitted  her  for  univer- 
sality.    But  that  which  fitted  her  for  univer- 
sality could  in  no  sense  whatever  be  her  an- 
nihilation.    The  Jews  were  not  cut  off,  till 
after  the  commencement  and  establishment  of 
the  new  dispensation,  that  is,  till  after  the 
Gentiles  were  taken  in :  therefore  the  visible 
church,  as  an  organized  whole,  subsisted  after 
the  commencement  of  this  dispensation,  and 
that  among  the  Gentile  Christians.     And  the 
excision  of  the  Jews  was  no  more  an  exter- 
mination of  the  visible  church,  than  the  lop- 
ping off  a  diseased  branch,  is  felling  the  whole 
tree.     It  is  incumbent  on  them  who  deny  a 
visible  catholic  church  under  the  New  Testa- 
ment, to  show  at  what  time,  by  what  au- 
thority, and  by  what  means,  so  signal  a  con- 
stitution of  God  has  been  laid  aside. 

2.  The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  proceed 
on  the  principle  that  the  visible  church  state, 
coextensive  with  the  Redeemer's  kingdom 
upon  earth,  was  not  to  cease  at  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  evangelical  dispensation. 

There  are  numerous  predictions  concern- 


12  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

ing  the  church,  and  numerous  promises  to  her, 
in  her  public  capacity,  which  are  unfulfilled 
at  this  hour,  and  never  can  be  fulfilled,  if  her 
visible  unit^^  be  not  asserted.  For  example : 
"  Esaias  saith,  there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse, 
and  he  that  shall  rise  to  reign  over  the  Gen- 
tiles: in  him  shall  the  Gentiles  trust.''  Does 
any  man  suppose  that  the  reign  of  the  Re- 
deemer "over  the  Gentiles"  is  confined  to 
those  whom  his  grace  has  subdued  to  the 
"obedience  of  faith?''  And  if  not,  that  his 
kingdom,  destitute  of  a  distinctive  mark,  is 
broken  down  into  detached  fragments,  resem- 
bling not  a  compact  community,  but  a  horde 
of  petty  democracies?  The  very  idea  of  a 
kingdom,  proves  that  his  church  is  one,  that 
she  is  visible,  and  that  this  visible  unity  is 
one  of  her  essential  attributes.  If  you  cut 
her  up  into  ten  thousand  pieces,  there  is  no 
more  a  kingdom.  If  you  strip  her  of  visible 
form,  you  contract  her  within  limits  of  which 
Omniscience  alone  is  the  judge;  you  with- 
draw her  from  the  eyes  of  men  altogether; 
and  shut  her  up  in  impenetrable  secrecy. 
Where  then  is  her  light?  Where  her  testi- 
mony? Where  the  use  of  those  cautions,  pre- 
cepts, encouragements,  which  are  adapted  to 
her  state  as  visible,  and  have  no  meaning  in 
any  other  application? 

Thus,  "  I  will  extend  peace  to  her  like  a 
river,  and  the  glory  of  the  Gentiles,  like  a 
flowing  stream,"  Is.  Ixvi.  12. — "Kings  shall 
be  thy  nursing-fathers,  and  their  queens  thy 
nursing-mothers."  Is.  xlix.  33.  The  Gentiles 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  13 

shall  come  to  thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  bright- 
ness of  thy  rising — the  abundance  of  the  sea 
shall  be  converted  into  thee;  the  forces  of  the 
Gentiles  shall  come  unto  thee"  Is.  Ix.  3.  5. 
These  are  but  a  very  small  sample  of  pro- 
phecies which  run  in  the  same  general  strain; 
and  two  things  are  obvious  on  the  bare  inspec- 
tion of  them. 

First,  that  they  contemplate  the  church  as 
one;  for  she  is  introduced  as  a  single  person; 
and  under  this  idea  are  they  addressed  to  her. 
Second — That  this  unity  is  not  ascribed  to 
her  as  composed  of  the  elect  alone.  The 
Gentiles  who  should  flow  into  her  were  not 
all,  nor  are  pretended  to  have  been,  real 
Christians:  that  "light"  which  was  to  shine 
upon  the  Gentiles,  and  the  "  brightness"  of 
that  "rising"  which  was  to  attract  the  "kings" 
must  of  necessity  be  external:  nor  could 
kings  be  her  "nursing-fathers,"  nor  their 
queens  her  "  nursing-mothers,"  but  as  a  pub- 
lic society  which  they  could  distinguish.  In 
any  other  sense  the  prediction  is  palpably 
false. 

Further:  when  he  foretells  the  transition 
of  the  dispensation  of  grace  from  the  Jews  to 
the  Gentiles,  the  prophet  uses  the  same  style. 
He  represents  the  church  not  as  subsisting  in 
a  vast  multitude  of  independent  associations, 
but  as  a  great  lohole;  as  possessing  individual 
unity.  He  personifies  it,  as  in  the  former 
instances:  "Sing,  0  barren,  thou  that  didst 
not  bear:  break  forth  into  singing,  and  cry 
aloud,  thou  that  didst  not  travail  with  child; 


14  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

for  more  are  the  children  of  the  desolate,  than 
the  children  of  the  married  wife,  saith  the 
Lord.  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let 
them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thy  habita- 
tions; spare  not;  lengthen  thy  cords,  and 
strenghten  thy  stakes.'^  Is.  xliv.  1,  2. 

This  is  unequivocally  a  description  of  the 
church  as  exhibited  under  an  outward  dis- 
pensation. The  comparison  between  the 
"  desolate"  and  the  "  married  wife,"  can 
have  no  place  in  a  question  concerning  the 
internal  church,  nor  do  the  other  circum- 
stances at  all  agree  to  her. 

Indeed,  whoever  admits  that  there  was,  at 
any  time  past,  one  visible  church,  and  that 
promises  were  made  to  her,  of  which  some 
have  had,  others  are  receiving,  and  others 
are  yet  to  have,  their  accomplishment,  must 
of  course,  admit  the  continuance  of  that 
church  at  present.  For  the,  fulfilling  a  pro- 
mise to  an  individual  or  a  society,  supposes 
the  existence  of  that  individual  or  society. 
The  promises,  for  example,  to  Israel,  could 
never  have  been  performed,  had  Israel  per- 
ished. The  adoption  of  another  family  might 
have  been  accompanied  with  other  promises, 
or  with  the  renewal  of  the  old  ones:  but,  in 
no  sense  could  they  be  fulfilled  to  a  race 
which  was  extinct  before  the  time  of  fulfil- 
ment came.  The  fact,  then,  that  God  is  7iow 
fulfilling,  and  to  fulfil  hereafter,  promises 
given  to  the  visible  church  ages  ago,  estab- 
lishes her  perpetuity  and  identity.  She  never 
has  been  destroyed,  or  she  could  not  at  this 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  15 

day  enjoy  the  accomplishment  of  ancient 
promise. 

3.  The  language  of  the  New  Testament 
implies,  that  an  external  visible  church  state 
was  not  abolished  with  the  law  of  Moses. 

The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  never 
go  about  to  prove  that  there  is  a  catholic  visi- 
ble church;  far  less  do  they  speak  of  it  as 
originating  in  the  evangelical  dispensation; 
but  they  assume  its  existence,  as  a  point 
which  no  Christian  in  their  days  ever  thought 
of  disputing.  They  argue  against  schism, 
upon  the  principle  that  the  visible  church  is 
one ;  and  they  record  ecclesiastical  delibera- 
tions and  decisions  by  the  apostles  and  elders, 
which,  upon  any  other  principle,  were  down- 
right usurpation  of  dominion  over  conscience. 
This  last  particular,  will  be  more  fully  han- 
dled before  we  have  done.  Let  us,  in  the 
mean  time,  attend  to  some  instances  in  which 
this  doctrine  of  the  one  visible  church,  is  in- 
terwoven with  the  texture  of  their  language. 

"This  is  he  that  was  with  the  church  in 
the  wilderness."  Acts  vii.  38.  Stephen  refers 
to  Moses,  and  we  know  what  church  Moses 
was  with.  No  one,  in  his  right  mind,  will 
undertake  to  say  that  Moses  was  with  the 
elect  only.  "  Our  fathers,'^  adds  the  martyr, 
"would  not  obey  him.'^  Moses  himself  writes 
that  these  rebels  were  the  "  people" — the 
"  wliole  congregation" — "  all  the  children  of 
Israel,"  Ex.  xxxii.  Num.  xiv.  and  this  was 
the  "church"  to  which  Stephen  refers. 

"  The  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily  such 


16  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

as  should  be  saved."  Acts  ii.  47.  "  Saul 
made  havoc  of  the  church.''''  Ch.  viii.  3. — 
"  God  hath  set  some  in  the  church ;  first, 
apostles,"  &c.  1  Cor.  xii.  28. — "  Gaius,  the 
host  of  the  whole  church.''^  Rom.  xvi.  23. — 
"  Give  none  offence  to  the  church  of  God.^^ 
1  Cor.  X.  32. — "  I  persecuted  the  church  of 
God.''  1  Cor.  XV.  9. 

The  list  might  easily  be  swelled;  but  it  is 
needless.  Let  us  weigh  the  import  of  these 
passages.  The  "church,"  to  which  the  Lord 
daily  added  such  as  should  be  saved,  was 
not  the  body  of  the  elect,  for  no  addition  can 
be  made  to  them;  nor  was  it  a  single  con- 
gregation, unless  God  had  no  more  people  to 
be  saved  in  Jerusalem,  than,  together  with 
mere  professors,  were  sufficient  for  one  pas- 
toral charge.  Nor  is  it  to  be  imagined  either 
that  Saul  confined  his  persecution  to  one 
congregation;  or  that  he  was  able  to  pick 
out  the  elect,  and  persecute  them.  As  little 
can  it  be  suspected,  either  that  Gains  never 
entertained  any  but  the  elect,  or  that  his  en- 
tertainments never  went  beyond  one  congre- 
gation. Nor  will  a  sober  man  allege,  that 
God  hath  set  no  officers  but  in  one  congre- 
gation, or  that  they  have  no  functions  toward 
any  but  his  elect;  or  that  all  whom  he  hath 
set,  are  themselves  of  the  number;  nor  yet 
that  "  offence"  can  never  be  given  to  any  but 
to  the  elect.  The  sin  to  be  committed  at  all, 
requires  both  that  the  offending  and  offended 
may  see  and  know  each  other.  But  the 
Scripture  is  express.    The  Lord  added  to  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  17 

church — Saul  persecuted  the  church — Gaius 
was  the  host  of  the  church — God  hath  set 
officers  in  the  church — Christians  are  not  to 
offend  the  church.  Now  as  these  and  many- 
similar  phrases,  are  utterly  inapplicable  either 
to  a  single  congregation,  or  to  the  body  of 
the  redeemed,  they  must  designate  another 
and  different  society,  which  can  be  no  other 
than  what  we  have  called  the  visible  Church 
Catholic.  Too  extensive  for  partial  assem- 
blies, too  notorious  for  any  secret  election  of 
men,  and  yet  a  church;  the  church — it  is 
general,  external,  and  but  one. 

In  truth  the  phraseology  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament on  this  subject,  as  on  many  others, 
is  borrowed  directly  from  that  of  the  Old. 
The  expression  "Church  of  God,"  is  a  literal 
translation  into  English  of  those  Greek  words 
which  are  themselves  a  literal  translation 
from  the  Hebrew.  For,  every  scholar  knows, 
that  cahal  Jehovah  or  Halohim ;  ixxX'tjata 
dsov;  and  "  Church  of  God,"  signify  m  their 
respective  tongues,  exactly  the  same  thing. 
Conceive,  then,  of  an  apostle's  addressing 
himself  to  the  Jews,  as  Paul  did,  in  the  He- 
brew tongue.  By  what  phrase  would  he 
designate  the  Church?  Evidently  by  that 
which  is  used  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and 
was  familiar  to  his  hearers.  And  what  sense 
could  they  put  upon  it?  Evidently  that 
which  had  long  been  settled,  and  no  other. 
Would  the  Jews,  then,  have  understood  him 
as  meaning  by  "  the  Church,"  either  a  sec- 
tion of  their  nation  no  bigger  than  could  be 


18  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

contained  within  the  walls  of  a  synagogue ; 
or  those  favoured  ones  whom  God  has  pre- 
destined to  life  ?  The  thing  is  impossible, 
because  he  would  use  the  current  phraseology 
of  both  their  holy  and  their  popular  language 
in  a  sense  quite  different  from  any  which  had 
formerly  been  affixed  to  it.  They  would 
understand  him  as  discoursing  of  that  great 
visible  society  which  God  had  publicly  set 
apart  for  himself. 

Conceive  again  of  the  apostle,  as  address- 
ing Gentiles  on  this  subject;  and  speaking 
Greek.  He  would  evidently  express  himself 
in  the  terms  which  he  has  used  in  his  epistles. 
What  ixx-Ktjsia.  (ecclesia)  means,  every  Gre- 
cian could  tell.  But  how  was  a  Heathen  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  ixxxy^c^ta  Osov  (ec- 
clesia fheou,)  or  the  "  Church  of  God  ?"  He 
was  perfectly  ignorant  of  Christian  doctrine, 
and  the  structure  of  Christian  congregations. 
Nor  could  he  form  any  correct  notion  of  the 
thing  intended,  without  an  explanation  drawn 
from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

The  result  stands  thus  :  The  apostle,  when 
preaching  or  writing  to  Jews  or  Gentiles, 
speaks  of  the  Church  of  God  in  terms  well 
known  to  the  one,  and  entirely  new  to  the 
other.  The  alternative  is  obvious.  Either 
he  used  these  terms  in  their  ascertained  sense, 
or  not.  If  the  former,  he  has  recognized  the 
visible  unity  of  the  Church  Catholic ;  and  so 
our  position  is  proved.  If  the  latter,  he  de- 
ceived all  his  hearers  ;  all  his  correspondents; 
all  who  in  every  age  adopt  his  letters  as  a 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  19 

rule  of  faith.  Undoubtedly,  had  he  used  the 
terms  "  Church"  and  "  Church  of  God"  m  a 
sense  unknown  to  Moses  and  the  Fathers,  he 
would  not  have  omitted  to  mention  it ;  that 
we  might  not  be  led  into  error.  But  the  fact 
is,  that  there  is  not  throughout  the  New  Tes- 
tament any  exposition  of  these  terms.  They 
are  employed  as  terms  of  the  most  definite 
import;  as  terms  which  no  one  who  chose  to 
consult  the  earlier  Scriptures  could  mistake. 
The  law  of  interpretation  to  the  primitive 
Christians,  must,  of  course,  be  our  law;  and 
the  same  issue  returns  upon  us ;  the  expres- 
sion "  Church  of  God,"  used  without  qualifi- 
cation, means  an  external  society  compre- 
hending all  those  who  profess  the  true  religion. 
If  any  one  think  that  too  much  stress  is 
laid  upon  the  coincidence  between  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  two  Testaments,  let  him  reflect, 
not  only  that  they  relate  to  a  common  whole ; 
but  that  the  same  coincidence  happens  in 
other -things.  Thus,  "Christ,"  is  but  the 
English  form  of  x^ijoj,  which  is  the  literal 
translation  of  (Messiah)  all  signifying  "the 
anointed."  When,  therefore,  the  Lord  Jesus 
was  proclaimed  as  the  "Christ  of  God,"  how 
could  either  Jew  or  Gentile  understand  the 
preacher  but  by  going  back  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment? There  the  word  was  perfectly  fami- 
liar, although,  in  its  sacred  sense,  utterly 
unknown  to  the  heathen.  And  this  explains 
why  a  profession  that  "Jesus  is  the  Christ," 
was  deemed,  in  the  first  age  of  the  church,  a 
sufficient  criterion  of  one's  religion.  No  man 


20  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

could  make  it  without  being  instructed,  from 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the 
Redeemer's  character  and  work.  The  reason 
why  many  now  suppose  such  a  profession 
extremely  easy,  is,  that  they  do  not  perceive 
its  relation  to  truths  previously  revealed.  And 
this,  too,  is  the  reason  why  there  is  so  much 
blundering  about  the  nature  of  the  church. 
People  imagine  themselves  at  liberty  to  inter- 
pret the  word  at  their  pleasure:  whereas  it 
is  referrible  to  the  Old  Testament  as  really 
as  the  word  *^  Christ.''  Neither  the  nature 
of  the  church,  nor  the  office  of  her  head,  is 
to  be  understood  without  an  appeal  to  the 
same  Scriptures.  Consequently,  that  very 
rule  which  expounds  "  the  Christ  of  God,'^ 
as  signifying  one  who  was  qualified  by  the 
Father's  appointment,  and  by  the  measure- 
less communication  of  the  divine  Spirit,  to 
be  a  Saviour  for  men ;  will  oblige  us  to  ex- 
pound the  "church  of  God,"  as  signifying 
that  great  visible  society  which  professes  his 
name. 

4.  The  account  which  the  New  Testament 
gives  of  the  church,  confirms  the  doctrine  of 
her  visible  unity. 

One  of  the  most  common  appellations  by 
which  she  is  there  distinguished,  is,  "the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  This  can  be  but  one: 
or  else  it  would  not  be  a  kingdom,  and  the 
kingdom,  but  several.  And  this  one  must  be 
visible,  because  its  ordinances  are  adminis- 
tered by  visible  agency.  Matt.  xvi.  19 ;  xxviii. 
19,  20.  John  XX.  21 — 23.     Nay  it  is  only  as 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  21 

visible  that  it  admits  of  the  exercise  of  any 
part  of  its  government  by  men.  The  church 
invisible,  which  ekides  every  human  sense 
and  faculty,  cannot  be  the  object  of  human 
functions.  And  to  preclude  mistake  in  this 
matter,  our  Lord  informs  us  that. his  king- 
dom, while  in  the  world,  shall,  hke  other 
kingdoms,  have  false  as  well  as  true  subjects; 
that  hypocrites  shall  so  intermingle  with 
saints  as  to  render  their  separation  in  the 
present  life  impossible  by  any  means  which 
will  not  exterminate  both.  Such  is  the  mani- 
fest import  of  the  parable  of  the  ''tares." 
Mat.  xiii.  24—30. 

An  attempt  has,  indeed,  been  made,  to 
repel  this  argument,  by  supposing  the  para- 
ble to  represent,  not  the  mixture  of  Christians 
with  hypocrites  in  the  church,  but  their  mix- 
ture with  wicked  men  in  civil  society.  Let 
us  see  : 

The  parable  is  a  likeness  of  "  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;"  a  phrase  which  never  signifies 
the  world  at  large,  or  civil  society;  but  the 
church  of  God  under  the  evangelical  dispen- 
sation. There  was  no  need  to  teach  the  dis- 
ciples, by  a  symbolical  lesson,  that  good  men 
and  bad'  are  mingled  together  in  civil  socie- 
ty. This  had  been  sufficiently  attested  by 
the  experience  of  all  previous  ages,  and  was 
at  that  very  moment  evident  to  their  eyes. 
But  considering  the  expectations  which  they 
might  be  led  to  form  from  the  introduction 
of  a  spiritual  economy,  it  was  altogether 
needful  to  apprise  them  that  in  her  best  es- 
3 


22  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

tate,  in  her  noblest  appearance  as  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  the  church  would  be  still 
imperfect,  and  injured  by  unworthy  mem- 
bers. Nor  could  the  officers  of  Christ,  an- 
swering to  the  "servants  of  the  householder,'^ 
ever  entertain  so  wild  an  idea  as  that  of 
severing  Christians  from  the  society  of  other 
men;  for  were  it  even  practicable,  it  would 
defeat  one  of  the  high  ends  for  which  they 
live  in  the  world;  that  of  "letting  their  light 
shine  before  others;"  and  would  gradually 
extirpate  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
But  it  would  be  very  natural  for  the  disciples 
to  imagine  that,  with  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  in  their  hands,  they  should  endea- 
vour to  exclude  every  one  whom  they  had 
reason  to  suspect  of  insincerity.  Many  are 
infected  with  such  a  notion  to  this  day.  No 
rotten-hearted  professor  shall  pollute  their 
communion ;  they  will  rest  the  right  of  ad- 
mission upon  the  reality  of  conversion.  And 
some  waste  their  lives  in  pursuit  of  that  chi- 
mera, a  perfect  church.  Nor  have  either  the 
admonitions  of  Christ,  nor  the  rough  tuition 
of  disappointment,  cured  them  of  their  folly. 
There  was,  therefore,  much  cause  for  guard- 
ing his  disciples  against  so  imposing  an  error. 
And  he  has  taught  them  that  there  are  no 
human  means  of  effecting  a  complete  expul- 
sion of  the  unconverted  from  his  church :  that 
the  attempt  would  destroy  his  own  people: 
and  therefore,  that  they  must  be  left,  like  the 
tares  and  the  wheat,  to  "  grow  together  until 
the  harvest."     Then,  that  is,  at  "  the  end  of 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  23 

the  world,"  he  will  "send  forth  his  angels, 
and  they  shall  gather  out  of" — what?  Civil 
society?  No,  but  out  of  ^^  his  kingdom,  all 
things  that  offend;  and  them  which  do  ini- 
quity, and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of 
fire:  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth"— V.  41,  42. 

To  the  same  amount  is  the  parable  of  the 
net,  in  verses  47 — 50.  "The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  net  that  was  cast  into 
the  sea,  and  gathered  of  every  kind."  Is 
this,  too,  a  description  of  civil  society?  It  is 
evident,  that  "the  sea,"  with  its  swarms  of 
fishes,  represents  the  world  with  its  multi- 
tudes of  men.  Like  a  net  cast  into  the  for- 
mer, the  kingdom  of  heaven  introduced 
among  the  latter,  gathers  a  mixed  assemblage 
from  the  common  mass.  And  as  it  is  impos- 
sible, while  the  net  is  in  the  waters,  to  divide 
the  good  fish  from  the  bad ;  so  it  is  impossi- 
ble, while  the  kingdom  of  heaven  exists  here 
among  men,  to  divide  saints  from  hypocrites. 
The  alternative  is  alike  in  the  type,  and  the 
thing  typified.  The  net  must  be  draAvn  "  to 
shore,"  before  the  fish  can  be  distributed; 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  must  close;  "the  end 
of  the  world"  must  come,  before  "the  wicked 
can  be  severed  from  among  the  just."  No- 
thing can  be  clearer,  than  that  mankind  at 
large  correspond,  in  the  parable,  with  the 
fish  of  the  sea;  consequently,  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  which,  like  a  net  thrown  into 
the  sea,  gathers  a  selection  from  among  men, 
cannot  possibly  mean  civil  society.  To  make 


24  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

this  out,  it  should  be  proved  that  the  net 
catches  all  the  fish  wherever  it  is  cast  into 
the  sea. 

To  crown  this  argument;  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  likened  unto  "ten  virgins,  of  whom 
five  were  wise,  and  five  were  foolish."  Matt. 
XXV.  1.  This  also  must  mean  "civil  society," 
or  the  hypothesis  we  are  considering  is  ruin- 
ed. But  what  man  in  his  senses  will  venture 
upon  so  extravagant  aii  assertion?  All  these 
virgins  professed  to  belong  to  the  train  of  the 
bridegroom — Ml  the  members  of  civil  so- 
ciety make  no  such  profession.  It  is  wasting 
words  to  press  the  point  further.  This  notion 
of  the  state  of  civil  society  being  represented 
by  the  parable  of  the  tares,  &c.,  is  a  fable  in- 
vented in  order  to  get  rid  of  a  troublesome 
truth:  and  adds  another  to  the  numberless 
examples  already  given  by  zeal  without 
knowledge,  of  its  being  much  easier  to  con- 
tradict the  Scriptures,  than  to  explain  them. 
The  sum  is. 

That  the  kingdom  of  heaven  cannot  desig- 
nate the  election  of  grace;  because  no  one 
belonging  to  that  will  be  "cast  mto  the  fur- 
nace of  fire." — We  have  proved  that  it  can- 
not signify  the  state  of  civil  society,  and  it 
would  be  superlatively  ridiculous  to  confine 
it  to  a  single  congregation;  therefore. 

It  must  mean  the  external  Visible  Church, 
which,  according  to  the  conditions  of  descrip- 
tion, can  be  but  one. 

If  we  proceed  a  little  further,  we  shall 
meet  with  the  same  thing  under  a  diflerent 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  25 

form.  The  apostle  Paul,  in  his  first  letter  to 
the  Corinthian  Christians,  chap.  xii.  treats,  at 
length,  of  the  various  gifts  which  the  Holy- 
Spirit  had  bestowed  upon  various  individu- 
als. He  argues  that  these  gifts  ought  to  be 
no  ground  of  dissension,  for  these  two  rea- 
sons: first,  that  they  were  all  of  the  same 
divine  original;  and  secondly,  that  they  all 
contributed  to  the  common  good,  and  most 
effectually  by  retaining  each  its  appropriate 
place.  The  latter  reason  is  illustrated  by  the 
analogy  of  the  human  body;  and  winds  up 
with  declaring — "  Now  ye  are  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  members  in  particular."  The 
question  is,  what  are  we  to  understand  by 
the  "body  of  Christ?" 

That  it  signifies  a  whole,  is  as  plain  as  that 
words  signify  any  thing.  Then,  ivhat  whole  ? 
Not  the  church  at  Corinth,  far  less  a  particu- 
lar congregation,  unless  the  commission  of 
the  apostles  and  the  use  of  all  spiritual  gifts, 
extend  no  further. 

Not  the  church  of  the  elect;  for  there  are 
no  "schisms"  in  that  body,  as  such.  A 
schism  which  cannot  be  perceived  is  no 
schism;  and  the  moment  you  render  it  per- 
ceptible, you  are  in  a  visible  church.  Nor 
can  it  be  affirmed,  but  at  the  expense  of  all 
fact  and  consistency,  that  God  hath  set  no 
officers  except  in  the  church  of  his  Redeemed. 
For,  upon  that  supposition  no  church  officer 
could  ever  exercise  his  office  toward  any 
non-elected  man;  the  pastoral  relation  could 
never  be  fixed  without  knowing  beforehand 


26  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

who  are  the  elected  of  God;  or  else,  no  per- 
son, however  blasphemous  and  abominable, 
could  be  kept  out  of  a  church,  because  such 
"  blasphemer  and  mjurious"  may  possibly  be 
"  a  chosen  vessel."     These  are  absurdities. 

But  a  body,  a  church  there  is,  in  which 
"  God  hath  set,  first,  apostles ;  secondarily, 
prophets;  thirdly,  teachers,  &c."  An  indi- 
vidual congregation  it  is  not.  A  partial  co- 
alescence of  congregations  it  is  not.  The 
"  church  of  the  first-born  whose  names  are 
written  in  heaven,"  it  is  not:  and  yet  it  is  a 
church;  the  church  to  which  God  hath  given 
his  ordinances.  There  is  no  escape ;  it  can 
be  no  other  than  what  we  have  called  the 
Visible  Church  Catholic. 

The  reader  has  been  more  inattentive  than 
it  would  be  fair  to  suspect  of  any  who  shall 
peruse  these  sheets,  if  he  has  not  remarked, 
that  all  the  means  of  salvation  are  external. 
The  Scriptures,  the  Sabbath,  the  solemn  as- 
sembly, the  sacraments,  the  ministry;  in  a 
word,  the  whole  system  of  instituted  wor- 
ship, is  visible.  Now,  is  it  not  a  most  in- 
credible thing,  that  the  church  and  the  ordi- 
nances committed  to  her,  should  be  of  oppo- 
site natures?  Or  rather,  that  the  ordinances 
should  have  a  solid,  external  existence,  and 
the  church  to  which  they  are  given,  no  such 
existence  at  all!  A  visible  Bible,  visible 
ministry,  visible  worship,  visible  sacraments, 
visible  discipline,  and  no  visible  church! 
Nothing  but  a  phantom,  a  metaphysical 
idea,  as  the  repository  of  God's  truth  and 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  27 

institutions !  One  fact  in  the  history  of  reve- 
lation, is  enough  to  dispel  these  visions.  It 
will  not  be  controverted  that  the  Scriptures 
are  God's  testimony  to  his  Church.  But  more 
than  one  half  of  this  testimony  was  delivered 
to  the  Israelites  in  their  public  covenanted 
character;  for  "unto  them  were  committed 
the  oracles  of  God."  Unto  whom,  then, 
have  the  subsequent  Scriptures  been  com- 
mitted? "  Unto  the  New  Testament  Church," 
you  will  say.  Agreed.  But  the  question  falls 
back  upon  you,  what  is  the  New  Testament 
Church?  If  she  is  not  the  very  same  great 
society  which  God  formerly  erected  for^the 
praise  of  his  glory,  and  has  caused  to  pass 
under  a  new  form  of  dispensation,  three  con- 
sequences follow: 

1st.  That  the  Old  Testament  is  no  part  of 
the  trust  deposited  with  her,  and  belongs  not 
to  the  rule  of  her  faith. 

2d.  That  God  has  divided  his  testimony 
between  two  churches  of  the  most  different 
nature ;  and  of  which  one  has  long  been  ex- 
tinct.    Therefore, 

3d.  That  the  whole  Scriptures,  as  the  tes- 
timony of  God,  never  were,  nor  can  be,  com- 
mitted to  any  church  whatever,  unless  in 
virtue  of  another  special  revelation. 

But  if,  on  the  contrary,  these  Scriptures 
are  the  testimony  of  God  deposited  with  his 
Church,  then  it  irresistibly  follows,  that  she 
is  now,  and  ever  has  been,  since  her  first 
organization,  a  public  visible  society  which 
God  has  appropriated  to  himself;   where  his 


28  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

name  is  known,  and  his  mercies  are  vouch- 
safed. 

And,  indeed,  the  general  principle  of  the 
Church  visible  is  so  inseparable  from  the 
Christian  style  and  doctrine,  that  its  most 
strenuous  opposers  are  unconsciously  admit- 
ting it  every  hour  of  their  lives.  They  talk 
habitually  of  "the  Church;  the  faith  of  the 
Church ;  the  worship  of  the  Church ;  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  Church;  God's  dealings  with 
his  Church,"  and  a  thousand  things  of  like 
import.  Let  them  ask  what  they  mean  by 
such  expressions?  They  will  not  say,  "a 
particular  congregation;"  and  if  they  say 
*'the  election  of  grace,"  they  will  speedily 
contradict  themselves,  and  fact,  and  the  word 
of  God  too.  Their  whole  language,  as  Chris- 
tians, is  accommodated  to  the  very  thing, 
which,  in  form,  they  renounce.  There  is  no 
getting  along  without  it.  No  ingenuity  can 
enable  them  to  converse  five  minutes  to- 
gether about  the  Church  of  God,  as  existing 
on  earth,  without  the  introduction  of  an  idea 
different  from  either  of  those  which  they 
affix  to  that  term:  and  this  third  idea,  if  they 
will  be  at  the  trouble  to  analyze  it,  will  turn 
out  to  be  no  other  than  that  of  the  Visible 
Church  Catholic. 

We  have  now  developed  our  views  of  that 
phrase,  "the  Church,"  and  assigned  our  rea- 
sons for  them:  the  reader  will,  therefore,  re- 
collect, when  he  meets  Avith  it  in  the  course 
of  our  disquisitions,  that  we  mean  by  it  the 
aggregate  body  of  those  who  profess  the  true 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  29 

religion:  all  making  up  but  one  Society,  of 
which  the  Bible  is  the  statute  book;  Jesus 
Christ  the  head;  and  a  covenant  relation  the 
uniting  bond. 


ESSAY  II. 

ON  THE  FIRST  ORGANIZATION  OF   THE  CHURCH. 

In  the  preceding  mmiber  we  have  proved 
the  existence  of  a  Visible  Church  Catholic; 
and  that  this  is  the  thing  intended  by  such 
scriptural  phrases  as  "  the  Church  of  God/^ 
"  the  house  of  God,"  "the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven." But  it  does  not  more  certainly  exist, 
than  it  exists  in  virtue  of  a  divine  interposi- 
tion. None  but  the  living  God  could  set  up, 
protect,  and  govern,  his  own  kingdom.  The 
question  is,  when,  and  where,  and  how,  so 
singular  a  society  was  instituted?  The  ques- 
tion is  of  moment,  as  being  connected  with 
interesting  views  of  the  external  economy  of 
salvation.     Let  us  attempt  to  answer  it. 

We  know  by  experience  that  the  Church 
of  God  was  in  the  world  before  us.  So  did 
our  fathers.  So  did  the  previous  generation : 
and  in  this  manner  the  historical  fact  may  be 
deduced  from  the  days  of  the  apostles.  The 
"  Church,"  therefore,  has  not  been  created 
since  their  days.  Was  it  created  then?  No: 
the  apostles  found  it,  as  we  found  it,  older 
than  themselves.  Their  writings  are  full  of 
its  privileges,  its  ordinances,  and  other  pecu- 
4 


so  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

liarities;  but  contain  not  a  single  hint  of  its 
originating  with  them.  They  uniformly 
suppose  its  prior  establishment,  and  speak  of 
it  as  having  been  long  and  familiarly  under- 
stood. Guided  by  the  clew  which  they  have 
put  into  our  hands,  we  go  back  to  the  books 
of  the  prophets,  and  meet  the  same  supposi- 
tion there.  We  proceed,  with  similar  suc- 
cess, through  the  Levitical  law,  and  the 
Sinai-covenant;  we  pass  the  age  of  Moses, 
and  arrive  at  the  Father  of  the  faithful. 
Here  the  clew  runs  out.  No  ingenuity  can 
follow  it  further.  People  of  God  there  were; 
promises  of  God  there  were ;  gracious  reve- 
lations, and  acceptable  worship  of  God,  there 
were:  but  a  Church  of  God,  organized  upon 
the  principle  of  visible  unity,  and  standing 
in  such  relation  to  him  as  it  did  in  after  ages; 
such  a  Church,  before  the  vocation  of  Abram, 
there  was  not,  nor  any  thing  which  bore  the 
semblance  of  it.  For  its  original  organiza- 
tion; for  the  germ  of  that  great  system  into 
which  it  has  already  grown,  and  shall  yet 
grow,  we  must  look  among  the  transactions 
of  that  memorable  period  which  elapsed  be- 
tween the  call  of  Abram,  in  Ur  of  the  Chal- 
dees,  and  the  birth  of  his  son  Isaac. 

On  the  first  of  these  occasions,  Jehovah 
gave  him  a  double  promise : 

1.  A  promise  of  a  numerous  progeny,  and 
great  personal  prosperity.  "  I  will  make  of 
thee  a  great  nation;  and  I  will  bless  thee, 
and  make  thy  name  great,  and  thou  shalt  be 
a  blessing;  and  I  will  bless  them  that  bless 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  31 

thee,  and  curse  him  that  ciirseth  thee." — 
Gen.  xii.  2,  3. 

2.  The  promise  of  his  heing  a  medium  of 
conveying  extensive  blessings  to  the  world. 
"  In  thee  shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed." — ver.  3. 

All  the  subsequent  communications  which 
God  made  to  him  are  referrible  to  one  of 
these  two  promises.  They  were  both  called 
up  at  different  intervals,  explained,  expanded, 
and  confirmed,  till  each  of  them  became  the 
basis  of  an  appropriate  coveiiarit.  Let  us 
briefly  mark  their  progress. 

1.  The  promise  of  a  numerous  progeny  is 
repeated  with  an  engagement  to  bestow  upon 
them  the  land  of  Canaan.  Ch.  xii.  7.  This 
promise  was  stated  and  confirmed  in  the 
most  precise  and  ample  terms,  after  Abram 
had  separated  from  Lot,ch.  xiii.  14 — 17;  and 
finally,  as  he  was  advancing  in  years,  and  the 
probability  of  its  accomplishment  was  pro- 
portionably  diminishing,  the  Lord  "  came  to 
him  in  a  vision,"  and  having  cheered  him 
with  this  gracious  assurance,  "I  am  thy 
shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward,"  ch. 
XV.  1,  renewed  the  promise  concerning  his 
seed,  as  that  which  should  come  forth  out  of 
his  own  bowels,  and  be  muhiplied  as  the  stars 
of  heaven.  The  patriarch  on  this  occasion  so 
glorified  the  divine  veracity  by  his  unshaken, 
unquestioning  faith,  that  the  Scripture  saith, 
"  it  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness." 
verse  6.  The  renewed  promise  concerning 
his  progeny  was  immediately  followed  by  a 


32  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

confirmation  of  the  grant  of  Canaan;  and  a 
remarkable  pledge  that  the  grant  should  be 
executed  in  due  season.  Having  as  he  had 
been  commanded,  slain  several  animals,  di- 
vided their  bodies,  and  placed  the  sections 
opposite  to  each  othei',  his  senses  were  locked 
up  to  every  other  object,  and  Jehovah  dis- 
closed to  him  a  comprehensive  view  of  evils 
to  come  upon  his  family  before  their  posses- 
sion of  the  promised  land.  But  their  posses- 
sion at  the  proper  time  was  guaranteed  by 
solemn  compact.  "  A  burning  lamp,^'  the 
symbol  of  the  divine  presence,  "  passed  be- 
tween those  pieces"  of  the  slain  animals,  in 
token  of  ratifying  every  stipulation  belonging 
to  the  promise  in  question.  '^  For  in  that  same 
day,  the  Lord  made  a  covenant  with  Abram, 
saying  'Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this 
land,'"  &c.  verses  8 — 21. 

Here  is  an  end  of  all  transactions  for  estab- 
lishing the  first  promise.  It  was  sealed  in  the 
covenant,  and  never  again  occurs  by  itself. 
The  end  of  this  covenant,  too  well  defined  to 
be  mistaken,  was  to  secure  to  Abram  a  nu- 
merous posterity,  and  their  inheritance  in  the 
land  of  Canaan.  Further  it  went  not.  It 
does  not  so  much  as  mention  the  promise 
relating  to  the  families  of  the  earth  being 
blessed  in  him.  And  from  the  minuteness 
with  which  every  thing  else  is  adjusted,  it  is 
evident  that  this  last  promise,  not  even  hinted 
at,  was  not  intended  to  be  comprised  in  the 
covenant  which  secured  the  other.  Let  us 
proceed  then. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  33 

2.  Fourteen  years  after  the  date  of  this 
covenant,  Jehovah  appeared  again  to  Abram, 
and  made  another  covenant  with  him.  The 
transaction  is  thus  recorded  in  the  seventeenth 
chapter  of  Genesis:  "  And  when  Abram  was 
ninety  years  old  and  nine,  the  Lord  appeared 
to  Abram,  and  said  unto  him  I  am  the  Al- 
mighty God;  walk  before  me,  and  be  thou 
perfect.  And  I  will  make  my  covenant  be- 
tween me  and  thee;  and  will  multiply  thee 
exceedingly.  And  Abram  fell  on  his  face : 
and  God  talked  with  him,  saying,  As  for  me, 
behold  my  covenant  is  with  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  be  ^father  of  many  nations.  Neither 
shall  thy  name  any  more  be  called  Abram; 
but  thy  name  shall  be  Mraham :  for  a  father 
of  many  nations  have  I  made  thee.  And  I 
will  make  thee  exceeding  fruitful,  and  I  will 
make  nations  of  thee ;  and  kings  shall  come 
out  of  thee.  And  I  will  establish  my  cove- 
nant between  me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after 
thee,  in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting 
covenant;  to  he  a  God  unto  thee,  and  to  thy 
seed  after  thee.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee, 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee,  the  land  wherein 
thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of  Canaan, 
for  an  everlasting  possession;  and  I  will  be 
their  God.  And  God  said  unto  Abraham, 
Thou  shalt  keep  my  covenant  therefore,  thou, 
and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their  generations. 
This  is  my  covenant  which  ye  shall  keep  be- 
tween me  and  you,  and  thy  seed  after  thee; 
Every  man-child  among  you  shall  be  circum- 
cised.    And  ye  shall  circumcise  the  flesh  of 


34 


CHURCH    OF    GOD. 


your  foreskin ;  and  it  shall  be  a  token  of  the 
covenant  betwixt  me  and  you.  And  he  that 
is  eight  days  old  shall  be  circumcised  among 
you,  every  man-child  in  your  generations;  he 
that  is  born  in  the  house,  or  bought  with 
money  of  any  stranger,  which  is  not  of  thy 
seed.  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house  and  he 
that  is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs 
be  circumcised:  and  my  covenant  shall  be  in 
your  flesh  for  an  everlasting  covenant.  And 
the  uncircumcised  man-child,  whose  flesh  of 
his  foreskin  is  not  circumcised,  that  soul  shall 
be  cut  off  from  his  people;  he  hath  broken 
my  covenant.'^  ver.  1 — 14. 

Our  inquiry  is  into  the  nature  and  design 
of  this  covenant.     What  was  it? 

Not  a  covenant,  either  of  works  or  grace, 
for  eternal  life.  For  Abram  had  been  "jus- 
tified by  faith,  without  the  works  of  the  law," 
and  had  been  interested  in  the  covenant  of 
God's  grace  before  this.  His  eternal  life  had 
been  secured  many  years. 

Nor  was  it  merely  a  personal  or  domestic 
covenant:  that  is,  one  which  provided  for 
the  individual  dignity  of  the  patriarch,  and 
the  prosperous  settlement  of  his  children  in 
the  land  of  Canaan.  This,  too,  had  been 
concluded  long  before,  as  has  been  shown. 
It  recognizes,  indeed,  all  that  was  included 
in  the  personal  covenant,  which  it  might 
otherwise  be  supposed  to  supersede;  but  it 
has  features  of  its  own  so  peculiar  and  mark- 
ed, that  it  cannot  be  considered  in  any  other 
light  than  that  of  a  distinct  engagement. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  35 

For,  besides  the  solemnity  with  which  it 
was  introduced,  and  which  would  hardly 
have  preceded  a  mere  repetition  of  former 
grants,  it  contained  new  matter;  it  constitu- 
ted new  relations;  and  was  affirmed  in  an 
extraordinary  manner. 

1st.  It  contained  new  matter — "I  will 
make  thee  a  father  of  many  nations:'^  which 
is  much  more  than  can  be  interpreted  of 
Abram's  literal  posterity;  and  must  be  viewed 
as  expounding  the  promise,  and  extending 
the  privilege  formerly  assured  to  him — "  In 
thee  shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be  bless- 
ed." It  was  a  great  thing  to  be  only  an  in- 
strument of  blessing  to  all  the  families  of  the 
earth;  but  a  much  greater  to  be  that  instru- 
ment in  such  a  manner  as  to  become  what 
no  other  man,  in  the  sense  of  the  covenant, 
ever  did,  or  ever  can  become,  "  a  father  of 
many  nations :"  and  moreover,  a  personal 
pledge,  also,  of  his  new  dignity  was  confer- 
red upon  the  patriarch,  in  that  remarkable 
alteration  of  his  name  from  Abram  to  Abra- 
ham; the  former  signifying  high  Father; 
and  the  latter,  high  Father  of  a  mxdtitude. 

2d.  It  constituted  new  relations — "  To  be 
a  God  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." 
This  cannot  be  explained  of  Abraham's  rela- 
tion to  God  as  the  God  of  his  salvation;  for 
in  that  sense  God  was  his  God  long  before; 
and  whatever  is  the  relation  expressed,  it 
grew  out  of  the  covenant  now  made:  it 
embraced  his  seed  too.  Nor,  with  respect 
to  their  eternal  life,  did  God  now  engage  to 


36  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

be  their  God;  for  all  that  was  adjusted  in 
the  covenant  of  grace;  and  the  privilege 
could  not  reach  beyond  those  who  were  the 
actual  partakers  of  the  same  precious  faith 
with  Abraham.  Whereas,  in  the  sense  of 
this  covenant,  God  was  the  God  of  all  Abra- 
ham's seed,  without  exception,  under  the 
limitations  which  restricted  the  covenant-ope- 
ration first  to  Isaac,  and  afterwards  to  Jacob, 
including  such  as  should  choose  their  God, 
their  faith  and  their  society.  For  he  was  to 
be  their  God  in  Iheir  ge?ieralio7is:  i.  e.  as 
soon  as  a  new  individual  of  this  seed  was 
generated,  he  was  within  the  covenant;  and 
according  to  the  tenor  of  the  covenant,  God 
was  his  God.* 

The  foregoing  retrospect  has  decided  one 

*  The  expressions,  "thy  God,"  "my  God,"  "our  God," 
and  that,  so  much  and  so  properly  in  use  among  Chris- 
tians, "  our  covenant-God,"  must  always  be  interpreted 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  covenant  to  which  they 
refer.  Common  but  unwarranted  practice  has  limited 
them  to  the  covenant  of  grace;  so  that  a  serious  man  is 
apt  to  think  he  hears  heresy,  if  they  be  ever  applied  to 
any  thing  else  than  the  saving  relation  in  which  a  be- 
liever stands  to  God  as  his  reconciled  God  in  Clirist 
Jesus.  But  this  is  a  mistake;  and  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  many  false  and  hurtful  opinions  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  its  privileges.  The  Jews  could  nationally^ 
call  God  "  their  God ;"  'i'hey  often  did  so,  and  with  right, 
when  they  were  gross  hypocrites  in  the  articles  of  their 
personal  religion.  The  Sinai-covenant  constituted  them 
the  people  of  Jehovah,  and  him  their  God,  as  really,  but 
in  a  widely  different  sense,  as  he  was  the  covenant-God  of 
Abraham,  or  of  Paul,  for  personal  salvation.  A  due  ex- 
position of  this  matter  involves  the  whole  doctrine  of  the 
visible  church  catholic,  which  is  grievously  misunder- 
stood by  most  professing  Ciiristians  of  all  denominations. 


CHURCH   OP   GOD.  37 

point,  to  wit,  that  the  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham and  his  seed,  contemplated  them  not 
primarily  nor  immediately,  as  of  the  election 
of  grace,  but  as  an  aggregate  which  it  severed 
from  the  bulk  of  mankind ;  and  placed  in  a 
social  character  under  peculiar  relations  to 
the  most  high  God.  To  define  precisely  the 
nature  of  this  constitution,  we  must  go  a 
step  further,  and  ascertain  who  are  meant  by 
**' the  seed." 

It  cannot  be  the  carnal  descendants  of 
Abraham  exclusively;  although  it  has  a  par- 
ticular respect  to  them,  for, 

(1.)  Three  large  branches  of  that  seed 
were  actually  shut  out  of  the  covenant,  i.  e. 
the  children  of  Ishmael,  of  Esau,  and  of  Ke- 
turah. 

(2.)  The  covenant  provided  for  the  admis- 
sion of  others,  who  never  belonged  to  that 
seed.  "  He  that  is  eight  days  old  shall  be 
circumcised  among  you;  every  man-child  in 
your  generations :  he  that  is  born  in  the  house 
or  bought  with  money  of  any  stranger  which 
is  not  of  thy  seed.^^ 

This  principle  was  acted  upon  under  the 
constitution  which  was  superadded,  by  the 
ministry  of  Moses,  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years  after.  The  stranger  who  wished  to 
keep  the  passover,  was  required  first  to  cir- 
cumcise all  his  males,  and  then  he  became  as 
one  born  in  the  land,  i.  e.  he  was  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  under  the  full  operation 
of  the  covenant  established  with  Abraham 
and  his  seed.   On  the  other  hand,  the  Edom- 


38  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

ite,  loho  sprung  from  the  loins  of  Abraham, 
was  put  upon  the  same  footing  with  the 
Egyptian  who  descended  from  Ham:  the 
children  of  both  were  received  in  the  fourth 
generation;  neither  of  them  came  in  upon 
the  plea  of  consanguinity  with  Abraham: 
nor  were  they  admitted  into  the  common- 
wealth of  Israel  under  the  idea  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  having  Abraham  for  their 
literal  father,  but  formally  and  explicitly 
upon  the  ground  of  their  being  "  the  congre- 
gatioji  of  the  Lord.^^  Deut.  xxiii.  8.*  But, 
being  once  incorporated  with  the  natural 
seed,  in  that  great  congregation,  they,  too, 
were  viewed  as  of  the  covenanted  seed;  and 
they  transmitted  their  privilege  to  their  chil- 
dren in  their  generations. 

(3.)  By  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham, 
he  acquired  the  prerogative  of  being  the  ^'fa- 
ther  of  many  nations.''^  This  article  is,  of 
itself,  a  demonstration  that  the  covenant  was 
of  a  much  wider  extent  than  all  the  literal 
descendants  of  Abraham  in  the  line  of  Jacob 
put  together.  They  never  did  make  but  one 
nation.     There  is  a  marked  distinction  be- 

*  Cahal  Jehovah,  "  The  Church  of  Jehovah:"  the  very 
expression  which  is  translated  again  and  again  in  the 
New  Testament,  inKXnTtu.  flsjy,  "  The  Church  of  God." 
The  fact  is,  that  all  our  language  in  sacred  things  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Old  Testament;  and  cannot  be  under- 
stood  without  a  reference  to  it ;  and  those  who  clamor- 
ously demand  the  origin  of  every  thing  Christian  to  be 
produced  from  the  New  Testament,  show  that  they  under- 
stand neither  the  New  Testament  nor  the  Old,  nor  yet 
that  very  Christianity  about  which  they  prate.  Cliristi- 
anity  is  more,  a  great  deal  more,  than  a  few  doctrines. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  39 

tween  them  and  these  "many  nations;"  who 
are  evidently  the  same  with  "all  the  famihes 
of  the  earth,"  that  were  to  be  blessed  in 
Abraham.  The  apostle  Paul  interprets  the 
phrase  by  another;  his  being  "the  heir  of 
the  ivorld;^^  and  peremptorily  denies  its 
restriction  to  the  literal  seed.  Rom.  iv.  13, 
16,  17. 

The  argmnent  is  short.  Abraham's  seed 
comprehends  all  those  of  whom  he  is  the 
father :  but  he  is  the  father  of  many  nations : 
therefore,  these  many  nations  are  to  be  ac- 
counted as  his  seed.  Again:  the  covenant 
was  made  with  Abraham  and  with  his  seed: 
therefore  the  covenant  embraces  these  many 
nations  who  are  included  in  his  seed. 

3.  This  covenant  was  affirmed  in  an  ex- 
traordinary manner;  viz.  by  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumclnon.  "  This,"  saith  God,  "  is  my 
covenant  which  ye  shall  keep  between  me 
and  you,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  every  man- 
child  among  you  shall  be  circumcised."  The 
uses  of  this  rite  were  two. 

First,  It  certified  to  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
by  a  token  in  the  flesh  of  their  males,  that 
the  covenant  with  their  great  progenitor  was 
in  force  ;  that  they  were  under  its  full  opera- 
tion; and  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  immedi- 
ately derived  from  it.  But  circumcision  had 
a  further  use ;  for. 

Secondly,  The  apostle  Paul  informs  us 
that  it  was  "  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of 
the  faith  which  Abraham  had  being  yet  un- 
circumcised,  that  he  might  be  the  father  of 


40  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

all  them  that  believe,  though  they  be  not  cir- 
cumcised; that  righteousness  might  be  im- 
pitted  unto  them  also.''  Rom.  iv.  11.  In 
this  connexion  it  certified, 

That  Abraham  was  justified  hy  faith  : 

That  the  doctrine  and  the  privilege  of  the 
"  righteousness  of  faith,"  were  to  be  perpetu- 
ated among  his  seed  by  the  operation  of 
God's  covenant  with  him: 

That  the  justification  of  a  sinner  is  by  faith 
alone;  "righteousness"  being  "imputed"  to 
"all  them  that  believe,''  and  to  them  only; 
who  by  the  very  fact  of  their  believing,  be- 
come, in  the  highest  sense,  children  of  Abra- 
ham, and  are  accordingly  blessed  with  him. 

While,  therefore,  the  sign  of  circumcision 
was  in  every  circumcised  person,  a  seal  of 
God's  covenant  with  Abraham  and  with  his 
seed,  it  was  to  all  who  walked  in  the  faith  of 
Abraham  a  seal  of  their  personal  interest  in 
that  same  righteousness  by  which  Abraham 
was  justified. 

From  these  general  premises  the  conclu- 
sion is  direct  and  irrefragable,  that  the  cove- 
nant with  Abraham  was  designed  to  assure 
the  accomplishment  of  the  second  great  pro- 
mise made  to  him  while  he  was  yet  in  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees;  and  that  the  effect  of  it  was 
to  bring  him  and  his  family,  with  all  who 
should  join  them  in  a  kindred  profession, 
into  a  church  estate,  i.  e.  was  a  covenant 
ecclesiastical,  by  which  Jehovah  organized 
the  visible  church,  as  one  distinct  spiritual 
society ;  and  according  to  which  all  his  after 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  41 

dealings  with  her  were  to  be  regulated.  Hith- 
erto she  had  been  scattered,  and  existed  in 
detached  parts.  Now  it  was  the  gracious 
intention  of  God  to  reduce  her  into  a  com- 
pact form  that  she  might  be  prepared  for  the 
good  things  to  come.  Since  Abraham  was 
designated  as  the  man  from  whom  the  MES- 
SIAH was  to  spring;  since  he  had  signally 
glorified  the  Lord's  veracity,  not  staggering 
at  his  promise  through  mibelief,  he  selected 
this  his  servant  as  the  favoured  man  in  whose 
family  he  would  commence  the  organization 
of  that  church  in  which  he  designed  to  per- 
petuate the  righteousness  of  faith.  With  this 
church,  as  with  a  whole,  composed,  in  the 
first  instance,  of  Abraham's  family,  and  to 
be  increased  afterwards  by  the  addition  of 
all  such  as  should  own  his  faith,  was  the 
covenant  made.  This  is  that  covenant  after 
which  we  are  inquiring. 

H.  This  covenant  has  never  been  annulled. 
The  proof  of  the  affirmative  lies  upon  the 
affirmer.  When,  where,  and  by  whom  was 
the  act  for  annulling  it  promulged?  The 
"  vanishing  away"  of  the  ceremonial  law  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Abrahamic  covenant, 
but  to  illustrate,  confirm,  and  diffuse  its  bless- 
ings. The  former  was  a  temporary  constitu- 
tion superadded  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
eff^ect  to  some  provisions  of  the  latter,  and 
expired  by  its  own  limitation.  The  apostle 
Paul  refutes  the  notion  that  the  introduction 
of  the  ceremonial  law,  could  at  all  prejudice 
the   pre-existing  covenant  with   Abraham; 


4.2  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

Gal.  iii.  15 — 17.  And  if  not  its  commence- 
ment, why  its  termination  ?  And  if  the  abol- 
ishing of  the  ceremonial  law  does  not  infer 
the  cessation  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant, 
there  is  not  a  shadow  of  either  proof  or  pre- 
sumption that  it  has  ceased.  If  there  is,  let 
it  be  produced.  But  not  to  rest  the  matter 
here,  we  may  observe, 

1st.  That  the  promise  of  Abraham's  being 
a  fatlier  of  many  nations,  who  are,  therefore, 
his  seed,  never  was,  nor  could  be  fulfilled, 
before  the  Christian  dispensation.  The  apos- 
tle Paul  was  certainly  of  this  mind;  for  he 
proves  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  from  Abra- 
ham's covenant;  and  if  the  calling  of  the 
Gentiles  to  be  fellow-heirs  in  the  church  of 
God  with  the  literal  descendants  of  the  patri- 
arch, was  grounded  upon  his  covenant,  this, 
again,  shows  that  they  belong  to  that  seed 
with  whom  it  was  made;  and,  consequently, 
that  it  is  in  full  force  and  virtue  at  this  hour. 
The  apostle  presses  this  point  with  great 
ardour;  and  places  it  before  us  in  various 
lights.  "  If  ye  be  Christ's,"  says  he,  "  then 
are  ye  Abraham's  seed;  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise."  What  promise  ?  Not  sim- 
ply the  promise  of  eternal  life  in  Christ. 
There  was  no  necessity  of  their  being  Abra- 
ham's seed  to  inherit  this  promise  of  Abra- 
ham's covenant,  to  which  they  were  entitled 
in  virtue  of  their  being  his  seed:  i.  e,  the 
promise  "  I  will  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to 
thy  seed  after  thee."  If,  then,  they  who  are 
Christ's  are  Abraham's  seed;  and  being  so, 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  43 

are  heirs  accordiog  to  the  promise ;  the  cove- 
nant, containing  the  promise,  is  in  full  virtue, 
as  they  belong  to  the  seed  with  which  it  was 
made. 

2d.  If  the  Abrahamic  covenant  is  no  longer 
in  force,  the  church  of  God,  as  a  visible  pub- 
lic society,  is  not,  in  any  sense,  connected 
with  him  by  covenant  relation.  This  may 
weigh  light  with  those  who  discard  the  doc- 
trine of  a  visible  Catholic  church;  but  it 
draws  much  deeper  than  they  suspect.  The 
whole  administration  of  the  covenant  of  grace 
proceeds  upon  the  principle  that  there  is  such 
a  church.  All  the  ordinances  are  given  to 
it;  all  the  promises  are  made  to  it.  To  the 
elect,  as  such,  they  are  not,  cannot  be  given. 
The  application  of  them  would  be  impossible 
without  a  special  revelation:  and  the  whole 
administration  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  by 
visible  means,  would  be  at  an  end.  Nor  is 
a  single  instance  to  be  found,  excepting  in 
virtue  of  immediate  revelation,  in  which  the 
Lord  ever  gave  an  ordinance  or  a  promise 
to  particular  churches.  They  always  receive 
their  privileges  in  virtue  of  their  being  parts 
of  the  church  universal.  Now  this  church 
universal  which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  the 
temple  of  his  Spirit,  the  depository  of  his 
grace,  stands  in  no  covenant  relation  to  God, 
in  her  public  character,  if  the  covenant  with 
Abraham  is  annulled.  For  if  she  does,  then 
another  covenant  has  been  made  with  her. 
But  no  such  covenant  has  been  made.  The 
new  covenant  which  the  Lord  promised  to 


44  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

make  with  her  at  the  introduction  of  the 
evangehcal  dispensation,  was  to  supersede, 
not  the  Abrahamic,  but  the  Sinai  covenant. 
It  is  so  far  from  setting  aside,  that  it  impUes, 
and  estabhshes  the  former ;  for  it  is  promised 
to  her  as  that  church  which  was  organized 
and  perpetuated  under  Abraham's  covenant. 
If,  therefore,  that  covenant  is  removed,  and 
no  other  has  replaced  it,  the  church,  in  her 
social  capacity,  is  further  off  from  God  than 
she  was  under  the  law ;  and  all  the  mercies 
to  which,  in  that  capacity,  she  once  had  a 
claim,  are  swept  away.  But  this  is  impossi- 
ble. In  fact,  the  Scriptures  uniformly  sup- 
pose the  existence  of  such  public  federal  rela- 
tions: and  abound  with  promises  growing 
out  of  them.  Thus  speaks  the  prophet — 
"  The  Redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion,  and 
unto  them  that  turn  from  transgression  in 
Jacob,  saith  the  Lord.  As  for  me,  this  is  my 
covenant  icith  them,  saith  the  Lerd:  my 
Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words  which 
I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out 
of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed, 
saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  for  ever." 
Isa.  lix.  21,  22. 

This  is  a  prediction  of  New  Testament 
times:  so  the  apostle  applies  it,  Rom.  xi.  ^^. 
And  he  applies  it  to  the  recovery  of  the  Jews, 
which  has  not  yet  happened.  The  covenant, 
therefore,  is  in  force,  and  it  operates  through 
the  medium  of  Gentile  converts;  the  Lord's 
Spirit  has  long  ago  departed  out  of  the  mouth 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  45 

of  the  Jews.  But  the  promise  was  made  to 
the  church,  in  her  covenanted  character ; 
her  members  in  constant  succession  are  the 
"seed"  out  of  whose  mouth  the  divine  Spirit 
shall  not  depart;  and  when  the  Jews  are 
restored,  they  will  be  brought  into  this  very 
covenanted  church,  and  be  again  recognized 
as  a  part  of  the  "  seed.'^  But  why  multiply 
words?  There  is  no  explaining  the  frequent 
recurrence  of  the  inspired  writers  to  the  cove- 
nant of  Abraham,  nor  any  propriety  in  their 
reasoning,  if  it  is  not  of  perpetual  operation. 
3d.  In  discussing  the  great  question  con- 
cerning the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  the  voca- 
tion of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  future  restora- 
tion of  the  former,  the  apostle  reasons  upon 
principles  which  are  most  false  and  imperti- 
nent, if  the  Abrahamic  covenant  has  ceased. 
Rom.  xi.  17 — 24. 

He  tells  the  Gentiles,  that  they  were  "  a 
wild  olive  tree;"  and  that  the  Jews  were  the 
"  good  olive  tree" — This  cannot  refer  to  their 
natural  state  as  sinners  before  God;  for  in 
this  respect  there  was  "no  difference" — nor 
to  their  state  as  sinners  saved  by  grace :  for 
from  this  state  there  is  no  excision;  it  can 
refer  to  nothing  but  their  visible  church 
estate;  i.  e.  to  their  public  relation  to  God  as 
a  covenanted  society.  What,  then,  was  this 
"  good  olive  tree,"  from  which  the  Jewish 
branches  were  "  broken  off;"  while  the  Gen- 
tiles were  "graffed  in?"  Evidently,  the  visi- 
ble church  organized  under  the  covenant 
made  with  Abraham.  There  was  no  other 
5 


46  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

from  which  the  Jews  could  be  cast  off.  The 
ceremonial  law  was  superseded.  It  was  no 
excision  at  all  to  be  cut  off  from  a  constitu- 
tion which  did  not  exist;  nor  could  the  Gen- 
tiles be  introduced  into  it.  But  what  says  the 
apostle?  That  the  "olive  tree'^  was  cut  down 
or  rooted  up?  That  it  had  withered  trunk 
and  branch?  Or  was  no  longer  the  care  of 
the  divine  planter?  Nothing  like  it !  He  as- 
serts the  continuance  of  the  olive  tree  in  life 
and  vigour ;  the  excision  of  some  worthless 
branches;  and  the  insertion  of  new  ones  in 
their  stead.  "  Thou,"  says  he,  addressing 
the  Gentile,  "partakest  of  the  root  and  fat- 
ness of  the  olive  tree."  Translate  this  into 
less  figurative  language  and  what  is  the  im- 
port? That  the  church  of  God,  his  visible 
church,  taken  into  peculiar  relations  to  himself 
by  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  subsists  with- 
out injury  through  the  change  of  dispensation 
and  of  members.  Branches  indeed  may  be 
cut  off,  but  the  rooted  trunk  stands  firm,  and 
other  branches  occupy  the  places  of  those 
which  are  lopped  away.  The  Jews  are  cast 
out  of  the  church,  but  the  church  perished  not 
with  them.  There  was  still  left  the  trunk  of 
the  olive  tree;  there  was  still  fatness  in  its 
roots:  it  stands  in  the  same  fertile  soil,  the 
covenant  of  God :  and  the  admission  of  the 
Gentiles  into  the  room  of  the  excommunicated 
Jews,  makes  them  a  part  of  that  covenanted 
church;  as  branches  graffed  into  the  olive 
tree  and  flourishing  in  its  fatness,  are  iden- 
tified with  the  tree.     It  is  impossible  for  ideas 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  47 

conceived  by  the  mind  of  man,  or  uttered  in 
his  language,  to  assert  more  peremptorily  the 
continuance  of  the  church  under  that  very 
covenant  which  was  established  with  Abra- 
ham and  his  seed.  And  this  doctrine,  un- 
derstood before  the  apostleship  of  Paul,  was 
maintained  by  John  the  Baptist;  "  Think 
not,'''  cried  he  to  the  multitudes  who  crowd- 
ed around  him  "  think  not  to  say  within  your- 
selves. We  have  Abraham  to  our  father :  for 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  God  is  able  of 
these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abra- 
ham." The  hearers  of  the  Baptist  like  many 
modern  professors  of  Christianity,  supposed 
that  the  duration  of  the  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham, and  of  the  prerogative  of  the  Jews  as 
God's  peculiar  people,  were  the  same.  It  is 
a  mistake,  replies  the  second  Elijah ;  you  may 
all  be  cast  off;  you  may  all  perish ;  but  the 
oath  to  Abraham  shall  not  be  violated.  God 
will  be  at  no  loss  to  provide  "seed"  who 
shall  be  as  much  within  his  covenant  as  your- 
selves, even  though  he  should  create  them 
out  of  the  stones  of  the  earth.  The  threat 
was  vain :  it  was  empty  noise ;  it  was  turning 
the  thunders  of  God  into  a  scarecrow  for  chil- 
dren, if  the  covenant  with  Abraham  was  not 
to  survive  the  law  of  pecuharity,  and  be  re- 
plenished with  other  seed  than  that  which 
sprung  from  his  loins  according  to  the  flesh. 


48  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

ESSAY   III. 

ON  THE  MODE  OF  PERPETUATING  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 

It  was  shown,  in  the  preceding  number, 
that  the  covenant  with  Abraham  and  his 
seed,  was  an  ecclesiastical  covenant ;  i.  e. 
was  made  with  the  visible  Church,  and  is  of 
equal  duration.  We  proceed  to  another  and 
very  important  part  of  our  inquiry.  How 
were  the  covenant-character  and  privilege  to 
be  transmitted  from  one  age  to  another,  till 
the  consummation  of  all  things  ?  Or,  which 
is  the  same,  how  was  a  succession  of  the 
*'  seed"  to  be  preserved  ? 

This  was  to  be  accomplished  in  two  ways. 

1st.  In  all  cases  of  original  connexion  with 
the  church;  that  is,  where  the  individual 
was  without  the  bond  of  the  covenant,  pre- 
vious to  his  being  of  adult  age,  he  was  to  be 
admitted  on  his  personal  faith  in  that  reli- 
gion which  the  covenant  was  instituted  to 
secure.  This  term  of  communion  with  the 
people  of  God  has  never  varied.  It  remains 
at  the  present  hour,  precisely  what  it  was  at 
the  formation  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 
They  who  do  not  enjoy,  or  have  not  em- 
braced the  gospel,  are  "without."  They  are 
"  strangers,"  "  foreigners,"  "  aliens,"  "  afar 
off,"  and  must  continue  such  till  they  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  No  Jewish 
nor  Pagan  foot  must  cross  the  threshhold  of 
the  church,  without  "repentance  toward  God, 
and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus   Christ." 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  49 

About  this  there  is  no  dispute.  About  the 
qualifications  requisite  in  adults  for  their  ad- 
mission to  the  privileges  of  the  Church,  there 
is  not  the  same  agreement. 

Some  think  that  a  general  profession  of 
Christianity  is  all  which  she  may  exact ;  al- 
leging in  support  of  their  opinion,  the  exam- 
ple of  the  apostles,  who  demanded,  say  they, 
nothing  more  than  a  confesssion  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  therefore 
they  conclude  that  nothing  more  ought  to  be 
demanded  now. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  this  propo- 
sition contains  the  substance  of  all  the  doc- 
trines and  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament, 
concerning  the  Redeemer's  person  and  work. 
No  man  would  give  it  his  intelligent  assent, 
without  a  knowledge  of  those  doctrines  and 
predictions ;  nor  repose  his  hope  upon  their 
truth,  without  that  divine  faith  which  re- 
ceives the  lohole  testimony  of  God,  and  ope- 
rates, with  a  purifying  influence,  upon  the 
heart  and  life.  The  Scriptures  refer  the  ex- 
istence of  such  a  confession,  when  not  hypo- 
critical, to  a  much  higher  cause,  and  attribute 
to  the  confession  itself  much  stronger  effects, 
than  are  even  thought  of  by  those  who,  at 
this  day,  would  establish  it  as  the  all-com- 
prehending term  of  Christian  fellowship.  "  I 
give  you  to  understand,"  says  Paul,  1  Cor. 
xii.  3,  "  that  no  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the 
Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'^ — And  John 
1  Ep.  V.  1,  5.  "  Whosoever  belie veth  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is  born  of  God.''     "  Who 


50  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

is  be  that  overcometh  the  world,  but  he  that 
believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?"  It 
is  evident,  upon  the  very  face  of  these  pas- 
sages, that  nothing  was  further  from  the  mind 
and  the  practice  of  the  Apostles,  than  the 
recognizing  as  Christians  and  the  admitting 
into  Christian  fellowship,  all  or  any  who 
barely  assented  to  the  general  proposition, 
that  "  Jesus  is  the  Christ."  Much  less  can 
such  an  admission  be  justifiable  now,  when 
millions  learn,  from  mere  habit,  to  repeat  that 
proposition  without  weighing  its  sense,  or 
even  comprehending  its  terms.  Christianity 
is  not  a  thing  of  rote.  And  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  that  multitudes  would  flock  to  the 
Church,  reiterating  as  often  as  you  would 
wish,  their  beUef  that  "Jesus  is  the  Christ;" 
who  should,  nevertheless,  be  found,  upon  a 
strict  examination,  to  be  either  ignorant,  or 
enemies  of  every  truth  comprehended  in  their 
own  creed.  This  cannot  be.  Christianity  is 
not  chargeable  with  the  madness  of  cherishing 
in  her  own  bosom,  and  that  designedly,  the 
seeds  of  her  own  destruction. 

Some  think  that  soundness  in  the  doctrines 
of  revelation,  without  scrutiny  into  practical 
character,  or,  at  least,  without  solicitude  on 
that  point,  is  sufficient  to  justify  admission 
into  the  church,  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  her 
privileges. 

This  opinion  is  not  more  correct  than  the 
former.  It  strips  the  church  of  her  responsi- 
bility on  the  score  of  moral  purity;  annihi- 
lates her  duties  with  regard  to  the  chief  end 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  51 

of  her  creation;  viz.  that  she  might  be  the 
mother  of  a  holy  seed,  of  a  "  peciiUar  people, 
zealous  of  good  works;"  dissevers  the  con- 
nexion between  faith  in  Christ  and  conform- 
ity to  his  image;  and  acts,  not  indeed  upon 
the  notion  that  provided  a  man's  life  be 
good,  his  faith  is  a  matter  of  indifference; 
but  upon  its  converse,  equally  absurd  and 
abominable,  that  a  right  belief  may  dispense 
with  the  obligations  of  holiness. 

Some  think,  that  doctrinal  soundness  com- 
bined with  fair  morals,  fixes  the  limit  of  our 
inquiries.  This  opinion,  though  far  prefer- 
able to  the  others,  labours,  notwithstanding, 
under  a  material  defect.  It  shuts  out  inves- 
tigation of  the  history  of  a  man's  heart  and 
conscience ;  in  other  words,  of  his  religious 
experience.  This  must  certainly  form  a  part 
of  his  profession  which  is  to  be  tried  by  the 
rules  of  the  written  word.  The  gospel,  if 
received  in  truth,  has  revolutionized  his  soul. 
It  has  taught  him  to  hate  sin,  his  own  sin, 
and  to  abhor  himself  for  it  before  God. — It 
has  taught  him  to  renounce  dependence  upon 
his  own  righteousness;  abjuring  it,  in  every 
form  and  degree,  as  the  ground  of  his  accept- 
ance with  his  judge;  to  rest,  with  absolute 
and  exclusive  reliance,  upon  the  righteous- 
ness of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  to  live 
by  faith  upon  him  as  the  Lord  his  strength. 
They  who  have  but  slightly  attended  to  facts, 
need  not  to  be  told  that  it  is  very  possible, 
and  very  common,  to  have  a  speculative  or- 
thodoxy and  an  unstained  reputation,  with 


52  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

as  complete  an  absence  of  the  whole  of  this 
spiritual  efficacy  of  the  gospel  upon  the  heart, 
as  if  no  such  thing  were  either  mentioned  in 
the  Bible  or  existed  in  our  world.  And  it 
would  be  strange  indeed,  if  the  church  of 
God,  in  admitting  men  to  her  distinguished 
privileges,  should  never  ask  a  question  con- 
cerning the  most  glorious  and  only  saving 
effect  of  that  very  gospel  which  her  members 
are  supposed  to  believe. 

Some,  in  fine,  think  that  religious  expe- 
rience is  the  sole  test  of  admission  into  the 
church.  Provided  a  man  can  satisfy  them  of 
his  conversion,  and  they  are  not  always  hard 
to  be  satisfied;  if  he  can  relate  a  plausible 
story  of  his  feelings;  can  talk  of  his  distress, 
and  of  his  comfort;  and  has  learned  to  deal 
in  joys  and  extasies,  it  is  enough.  How  he 
came  by  his  experience,  he  probably  cannot 
tell,  and  his  spiritual  guides  often  omit  to 
ask.  And  yet  this  is  a  point  upon  which 
often  turns  the  discrimination  between  true 
and  false  in  religion;  between  rational  ex- 
perience, and  fanaticism;  between  the  good 
influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  their 
counterfeits.  It  is  lamentable  that  so  large  a 
proportion  of  conversions,  which  are  the  fruit 
of  tumultuous  meetings,  and  the  theme  of 
newspaper  praise,  prove  to  be  of  this  class. 
Dark  views,  gross  ignorance,  and  even  flat 
contradictions  in  the  simplest  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, are  no  obstacle.  Thousands  go  from 
sin  to  God :  from  nature  to  grace ;  from  con- 
demnation to  pardon;  from  despondency  to 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  53 

rapture;  and  when  interrogated  about  the 
process  by  which  this  marvellous  transition 
was  accomplished,  have  little  or  nothing  to 
say,  but  that  they  have  felt  so!  And,  what 
is  still  more  astonishing,  they  have  been 
"  translated  from  darkness  to  light,'^  without 
being  illuminated!  For  the  uttering  of  inco- 
herent exclamations,  and  the  chattering  over 
a  set  of  phrases,  though  accompanied  with 
vehement  passion,  with  shrieks  and  fallings, 
and  faintings,  and  fits,  and  trances,  must  not 
pass  for  divine  illumination,  nor  divine  influ- 
ence of  any  sort.  When  we  consider  the 
mechanism  of  the  human  affections,  and  how 
rapidly  emotion  is  propagated,  by  sympathy, 
through  promiscuous  crowds,  we  can  explain 
all  the  phenomena  which,  in  this  matter,  have 
lately  attracted  the  public  wonder,  without 
recourse  to  supernatural  agency;  and  must 
be  convinced  that  nothing  can  be  more  pre- 
carious than  the  tenure  by  which  these  sud- 
den converts  hold  their  profession.  And 
although  many,  to  whom,  therefore,  these 
remarks  will  not  apply,  disclaim  that  wild 
phrenzy  which  others  have  rashly  mistaken 
for  an  effusion  of  the  divine  Spirit,  yet  it  is 
not  easy  to  make  mere  experience  the  rule 
of  estimating  Christian  character  and  of  ad- 
mitting to  Christian  privilege;  and  at  the 
same  time,  keep  clear  of  extravagances.  For, 
let  the  imagination,  freed  from  the  restraint 
of  purified  reason,  be  once  excited;  let  it  be 
impeUed  by  a  fervid  but  blind  devotion,  and 
it  will  rush,  with  resistless  impetuosity,  into 
6 


54  CHURCH   OF    GOD. 

excesses  fit  only  to  dishonour  the  Christian 
name,  and  to  desolate  the  Christian  church. 
Wherever  the  vmderstanding  is  dismissed 
from  rehgion,  nothing  but  mischief  can  en- 
sue; and  this  is  always  done,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  where  the  exercises  of  the  heart 
are  assumed  as  the  basis  of  our  judgment 
without  ascertaining  their  dependence  upon 
knowledge. 

Upon  the  whole  we  may  conclude,  that  an 
adult,  in  order  to  his  right  reception  into  the 
Christian  Church, 

Must  be  acquainted  with,  at  least,  the  lead- 
ing doctrines  of  revelation : 

Must  be  able  to  "give  a  reason  of  the 
hope  that  is  in  him,"  by  showing  that  these 
doctrines  have  operated  upon  his  experience  : 

Must  make  an  open,  unequivocal  avowal 
of  the  Redeemer's  name :  and. 

Must  be  vigilant  in  the  habitual  discharge 
of  his  religious  and  moral  duty. 

He,  in  whom  these  things  meet,  is  a  Chris- 
tian, and  to  be  recognized  as  such  by  the 
Christian  Church. 

But  now  arises  another  question.  Does 
the  Church,  in  bringing  an  adult  to  the  test 
of  the  foregoing  requisites,  and  pronouncing 
him  worthy  of  her  communion,  act  upon  the 
principle  of  her  discovering  that  he  is  a  re- 
generated person;  and  that  he  really  is,  in 
the  sight  of  God,  what  he  appears  to  he  in 
the  sight  of  men? 

By  no  means.  The  Church,  as  conducted 
by  a  system  of  instituted  ordinances,  which 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  So 

men  administer,  is  altogether  visible;  and  it 
would  be  absurd  to  make  an  invisible  quality 
the  criterion  of  visible  communion. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  fell  into  no 
mistakes,  actually  did  admit  an  ui>converted 
man,  a  hypocrite,  a  traitor,  a  devil,  into  the 
number  not  only  of  his  disciples,  but  even  of 
his  apostles:  thereby  instructing  his  Church 
that  the  secret  state  of  the  soul  before  God  is 
not  to  be  her  rule  of  judgment.  He  knew, 
from  the  beginning,  who  should  betray  him; 
and  yet  permitted  the  infidel  to  mingle  in  his 
trains  to  continue  in  his  service,  to  share  the 
honours  of  his  sincere  followers;  and  never 
cast  him  off  till  he  had  proved  his  rottenness 
by  an  overt  act  of  treachery.  All  which 
would  have  been  impossible,  had  the  reality 
of  a  gracious  condition  been  the  ground  of 
church  connexion.  And  it  betrays  something 
very  different  from  modesty  to  set  up  a  term 
of  religious  fellowship  which  would  convict 
the  master  himself  of  corrupting  his  own 
Church. 

God  has  reserved  to  himself  the  preroga- 
tive of  exploring  secret  motives,  "  I,  Jeho- 
vah, search  the  heart.  I  try  the  reins." 
And  it  is  a  source  of  ineffable  consolation 
that  none  but  himself  can  try  them.  The 
obtrusion  of  the  creature  is  completely  barr- 
ed out  by  his  own  unchangeable  constitution. 
I  bless  him  for  it.  I  had  rather  perish  than 
have  my  heart  searched  by  men  or  angels: 
and  I  put  them  all  at  defiance  to  declare  what 
passes  in  my  breast  any  further  than  I  my- 


56  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

self  inform  them  by  my  own  act.  Whoever, 
therefore,  maintains  that  the  reality  of  con- 
version is  the  reason  of  admissian  to  Chris-- 
tian  privilege,  lays  down  a  rule  which  never 
can  be  applied.  There  aris  none  who  furnish 
more  conclusive  evidence  of  its  nullity,  than 
those  who  most  warmly  contend  for  it.  A 
single  observation  will  put  this  in  a  strong 
light.  They  who,  without  the  aid  of  a  reve- 
lation either  from  myself  or  my  Creator,  can 
read  my  hidden  thoughts  on  one  occasion, 
can  read  them  on  every  other.  Therefore, 
if  they  can  ascertain  sincerity  in  religion,  they 
can  equally  ascertain  it  in  their  civil  transac- 
tions ;  and  consequently  would  never  be  im- 
posed upon.  But  to  such  lengths  they  do  not 
pretend  to  go :  that  is,  they  proclaim  the  falsi- 
ty of  their  own  doctrine,  and  the  futility  of 
their  own  rule.  How  dare  they  who  cannot 
detect  a  perjury  in  the  custom-house,  or  a  lie 
in  the  shop,  represent  themselves  as  able  to 
detect  hypocrisy  in  religious  profession  ?  It 
is  foolish  conceit;  it  is  contemptible  quack- 
ery. Take  notice  how  they  use  their  own 
rule.  They  get  a  man  to  recount  his  experi- 
ence. If  satisfied  with  that,  they  set  him 
down  as  converted.  You  see,  that  for  the 
facts  on  which  they  build  their  judgment, 
they  have  only  his  own  word ;  and  yet  they 
talk  of  ascertaining  his  state!  Two  plain 
questions  on  this  head,  and  we  shall  leave 
them: 

If  their  man  should  say  nothing  at  all,  how 
would  they  find  out  his  state  ? 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  57 

If  he  should  happen  to  amuse  them  with  a 
tale  of  experience  such  as  they  approve,  and 
he  never  felt,  where  is  their  knowledge  of 
his  state? 

As  for  those  who  undertake  to  discern 
spirits,  without  producing  their  authority 
from  the  father  of  spirits,  under  his  broad  seal 
of  miracles,  nothing  is  so  amazing  about  them 
as  their  effrontery.  All  sober  men  should 
eschew  them  as  jugglers  and  impostors.  An 
astrologer  who  casts  nativities  from  the  as- 
pect of  the  planets;  or  a  strolling  gipsey  who 
predicts  the  history  of  life  from  the  palm  of 
a  child's  hand,  is  as  worthy  of  credence  as 
they. 

The  result  is,  that  when,  according  to  our 
best  judgment,  we  perceive  those  things  which 
are  the  known  and  regular  effects  of  Christian 
principle,  we  are  to  account  their  possessor  a 
brother,  and  to  embrace  him  accordingly.  In 
other  words,  a  credible  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity^ is  all  that  the  church  may  require 
in  order  to  communion.  She  may  be  deceiv- 
ed; her  utmost  caution  may  be,  and  often  has 
been,  ineffectual  to  keep  bad  men  from  her 
sanctuary.  And  this,  too,  without  her  fault, 
as  she  is  not  omniscient.  But  she  has  no  right 
to  suspect  sincerity,  to  refuse  privilege,  or  to 
inflict  censure,  where  she  can  put  her  finger 
upon  nothing  repugnant  to  the  love  or  the 
laws  of  God. 

It  must  of  necessity  be  so.  For  the  prin- 
ciple now  laid  down  is  inseparable  from  hu- 
man nature,  and  pervades  every  form  of 


58  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

human  society.  Examine  them  all,  from  the 
great  commonwealth  of  the  nation  down  to 
the  petty  club,  and  you  will  meet  with  no 
exception.  When  an  alien  becomes  a  citizen, 
he  takes  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  govern- 
ment. When  one  becomes  a  member  of  a 
hterary,  a  mechanical,  a  benevolent,  or  any 
other  association,  he  accedes  to  its  constitu- 
tion and  rules.  These  are  their  professions 
respectively.  They  may  profess  falsely :  But 
that  is  nothing  to  the  society,  so  long  as 
the  falsehood  is  locked  up  within  their  own 
breasts :  They  are  accounted,  and  rightly  ac- 
counted, "good  men  and  true,"  till  they  for- 
feit their  reputation  and  their  immunities  by 
some  criminal  deed.  Who  doubts  that  indi- 
viduals unfaithful  in  heart  to  their  engage- 
ments, are  scattered  through  all  these  combi- 
nations? Yet  who  would  deem  it  better  than 
madness  to  decide  on  their  external  relations 
without  a  warrant  from  external  acts?  What 
horrible  confusion  would  follow  a  departure 
from  this  maxim?  Nothing  can  be  true  which 
contradicts  any  of  the  great  analogies  of  God's 
works;  nor  can  his  church  be  established  by 
the  operation  of  a  principle  which,  in  every 
other  case,  would  destroy  all  confidence  and 
intercourse  among  men. 

A  profession,  then,  of  faith  in  Christ,  and 
of  obedience  to  him,  not  discredited  by  other 
traits  of  character,  entitles  an  adult  to  the 
privileges  of  his  church.  And  this  is  the  first 
way  of  securing  a  succession  of  the  covenant- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  59 

ed  seed,  and  of  handing  down  their  blessings 
to  the  end  of  time. 

But  the  second  and  principal  channel  of 
conveyance  is  hereditary  descent.  The  re- 
lations and  benefits  of  the  covenant  are  the 
birthright  of  every  child  born  of  parents 
who  are  themselves  of  "the  seed."  "  I  will 
establish/'  says  God,  "  my  covenant  between 
me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant.'' 
The  substance  of  which,  to  repeat  a  preced 
ing  proposition,  manifestly  is,  that  as  soon  as 
a  new  individual  is  generated  from  this  seed, 
he  is  within  the  covenant,  and,  according  to 
its  tenor,  God  is  his  God.  This  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  every  public  covenant  which  God 
has  made  with  man.  Take,  for  example, 
the  covenants  with  Adam  and  with  Noah, 
Every  human  creature  comes  into  being  un- 
der the  full  operation  of  both  these  covenants. 
In  virtue  of  the  one,  he  is  an  "  heir  of  wrath ;" 
and  in  virtue  of  the  other,  an  heir  of  promise 
to  the  whole  extent  of  the  covenant-mere \\ 
He  has  the  faithfulness  of  God  pledged  to  him, 
as  one  of  Noah's  covenanted  seed,  that  tho 
world  shall  not  be  drowned  by  a  second 
deluge;  nor  visited  by  another  calamity  to 
exterminate  his  race. 

Now,  what  imaginable  reason  can  be  as- 
signed, why,  in  the  covenant  with  his  visible 
Church,  the  uniform  and  consistent  God 
should  depart  from  his  known  rule  of  dispen- 
sation, and  violate  all  the  natural  and  moral 


60  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

analogies  of  his  works  and  his  government? 
It  cannot  be.  There  is  no  such  violation; 
there  is  no  such  departure.  Nor  is  it  so 
much  as  pretended  to  have  happened  from 
Abraham  till  John  the  Baptist,  or  perhaps 
the  day  of  Pentecost.  But  what  was  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Baptist?  What  in  the  minis- 
try of  Jesus  Christ?  What  in  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  to  destroy  a 
radical  principle  of  that  very  Church  which 
John,  and  Jesus,  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus, 
were  sent  to  bless  and  perfect?  The  notion 
is  wild.  And  if,  as  has  been  already  demon- 
strated, the  covenant  with  Abraham  and  his 
seed  was  a  covenant  with  the  visible  Church 
— if  this  covenant  has  never  been  abrogated 
— if  its  relations  and  privileges,  with  an  ex- 
ception in  favour  of  adults  who  desired  to 
come  in  on  the  profession  of  their  faith,  were 
to  be  propagated  in  the  line  of  natural  gene- 
ration, THEN,  it  follows,  that  the  infant  seed 
of  persons  who  are  under  this  covenant,  are 
themselves  parties  to  it ;  are  themselves  mem- 
bers of  the  Church;  and  whatever  privileges 
that  infant  seed  had,  at  any  given  period  in 
the  history  of  the  Church,  it  must  retain  so 
long  as  the  covenant  is  in  force.  But  the 
covenant  is  in  force  at  this  moment;  there- 
fore, at  this  moment,  the  covenant  privileges 
of  the  infant  seed  are  in  force.  Visible  mem- 
bership is  one  of  those  privileges ;  therefore 
the  infant  seed  of  church-members  are  also 
members  of  the  church. 

However  men  may  corrupt  and  have  cor- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  61 

rupted  the  ordinance  of  God,  so  as  to  reject 
the  visible  means  which  he  has  appointed  for 
perpetuating  his  Church,  yet  as  they  cannot 
overset  his  government,  they  are  compelled 
to  see  the  principle  here  contended  for,  opera- 
ting, with  irresistible  force,  every  hour  be- 
fore their  eyes.  For  whether  they  will,  or 
whether  they  will  not,  the  fact  is,  that  the 
Church  of  God,  with  an  exception  before 
mentioned,  ever  has  been,  and  is  now,  pro- 
pa'gated  by  hereditary  descent.  There  is  not, 
perhaps,  in  any  nation  under  heaven  that  has 
been  once  Christianized,  and  has  not  sinned 
away  the  gospel,  a  single  Christian  who  has 
not  received  his  privileges  as  an  inheritance 
from  his  fathers.  Let  us  then  beware  how, 
in  opposing  infant  church-membership,  we 
fight  against  a  principle  which  is  wrought 
into  the  essence  of  all  God's  constitutions 
respecting  man. 


ESSAY   IV. 


IMTIATIXG  SEAL. 

On  the  "sign  of  circumcision'^  which  God 
annexed  to  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  as 
"  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,''  some 
remarks  have  already  been  made.  In  its  im- 
mediate reference  to  the  Patriarch's  seed,  it 
certified  that  they  belonged  to  the  Church  of 
God,  and  were  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 


62  CHURCH    OF    GOI>. 

which  she  derived  immediately  from  the 
covenant  with  their  great  progenitor.  A 
right  to  this  seal,  was  the  birthright  of  every 
Hebrew;  and  it  was  accordingly  applied  to 
him  when  he  was  eight  days  old.  That  this 
right  was  not  peculiar  to  the  literal,  but  was 
common  to  the  covenanted,  seed,  is  clear 
from  the  case  of  proselytes,  who  having 
cleaved  to  the  God  of  Abraham,  were  them- 
selves circumcised,  and  imparted  to  their  chil- 
dren all  the  prerogatives  of  a  native  Hebrew. 

On  the  supposition,  then,  that  circumcision 
had  not  been  laid  aside,  as  the  covenant,  of 
which  it  was  the  seal,  has  not,  it  would  be  at 
this  hour  the  duty  of  professing  parents  to 
circumcise  their  infant  sons;  that  is,  to  have 
an  interest  in  God's  covenant  certified  to  their 
seed,  by  applying  the  seal  of  it  to  their  male 
infants.  Circumcision,  however,  having  been 
discontinued,  the  question  is,  whether  the  seal 
which  it  conveyed  has  been  discontinued  with 
it?  If  so,  then  these  two  consequences  follow. 

First,  That  there  is  no  longer  any  initia- 
tory seal  for  adults  any  more  than  for  infants : 
because  an  abolished  seal  can  no  more  be 
applied  to  a  man  than  to  a  babe;  and  thence, 

Secondly,  That  the  Church  of  God  is  un- 
der the  operation  of  an  nnsealed  covenant ; 
that  is,  that  God  has  withdrawn  the  sensible 
pledge  of  his  covenant  relation  to.  her.  If  it 
be  said  that  Baptism  is  appointed  to  be  the 
initiatory  seal  under  the  New  Testament  dis- 
pensation, and  is  directed  to  be  applied  to 
believing  adults,  the  plea  is  true;  but  it  con- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  63 

cedes  much  more  than  suits  the  purpose  of 
many  who  urge  it. 

(1.)  As  a  seal  must  certify  something;  as 
no  seal  was  ever  ordained  by  God  but  as  the 
seal  of  his  covenant;  and  as  no  wise  man 
will  pretend  that  every  lawfully  baptized 
adult,  is  undoubtedly  within  the  covenant  of 
grace,  it  concedes  that  God  has  a  visible 
church  in  sealed  covenant  with  himself, 
distinct  from  that  church  which  is  composed 
of  the  elect  only. 

(2.)  As  he  has  never  made  a  neiv  visible 
church;  nor  drawn  back  from  his  old  engage- 
ments, this  plea  concedes,  that  the  church 
now  in  existence  is  the  very  church  organi- 
zed by  the  Abrahamic  covenant;  and  that 
covenant  the  very  one  which  is  sealed  to  her 
by  baptism.     Then, 

(3.)  That  baptism  has  come  in  the  place 
of  circumcision;  and  as  adults  are  ordered 
to  be  baptized,  without  a  syllable  of  the 
exclusion  of  infants,  the  application  of  cir- 
cumcision must  furnish  the  rule  for  that  of 
baptism.  And  consequently,  this  same  plea 
which  is  designed  to  preclude  infant  baptism, 
turns  out  to  be  a  demonstration  of  its  divine 
right.  Thus  the  point  before  us  would  be 
completely  settled.  But  to  wave  this  advan- 
tage, and  to  put  the  subject  in  another  light, 
let  us  distinguish,  in  this  matter  of  circum- 
cision, between  the  substance  and  form.  The 
substance  of  the  ordinance,  that  which  pro- 
perly constitutes  the  seal^  was  the  certifica- 
tion o  the  person  sealed,  of  his  interest  m 


64  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

God's  covenant.  The  rite  of  circumcision 
was  no  more  than  the  form  in  which  the 
seal  was  applied.  These  two  things  must 
not  be  confounded.  For,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  rite  may  be,  and  was,  and  is  yet,  per- 
formed without  any  sealing  whatever.  The 
sons  of  Ishmael  were  circumcised,  but  they 
belonged  not  to  the  covenanted  seed,  and 
therefore  circumcision  sealed  nothing  to  them. 
The  Jews  are  circumcised  still,  but  being  cut 
off  from  the  olive-tree,  being  cast  out  of  the 
church  of  God,  and  suspended  from  the  pri* 
vileges  of  the  covenanted  seed,  their  circum- 
cision is  nothing.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
seal  had  been  the  same,  although  adminis- 
tered by  a  different  rite.  The  amputation  of 
a  toe,  the  perforation  of  an  ear,  the  sprink- 
ling of  blood,  or  the  anointing  with  oil,  would 
have  answered  the  purpose  as  well  as  cir- 
cumcision. The  essence  of  the  seal  lying  not 
in  the  rite^  but  in  the  divine  sanction  which 
is  given  by  that  rite  to  claims  on  God's  cove- 
nant. Now  as  it  is  self-evident,  that  this 
sanction  may  be  conveyed  under  any  form 
which  he  shall  please  to  prescribe,  it  is  a 
gross  error  in  reasoning  to  conclude,  that 
because  the  ancient  form  is  laid  aside,  there- 
fore the  seal  and  all  things  certified  by  it  are 
laid  aside  too.  It  would  be  quite  as  accurate 
to  infer,  that  because  the  form  of  church 
polity  is  altered,  therefore  the  church  no 
longer  exists.  If  it  be  objected,  that  "  how- 
ever distinguishable  the  seal  and  the  sealing 
rite  be  from  each  other  in  theory,  they  are 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  65 

inseparable  in  fact;  as  the  former  cannot  be 
applied  to  us  but  through  the  medium  of  the 
latter;  and  therefore  if  this  be  aboUshed,  the 
other  is  to  us  as  if  it  did  not  exist;"  I  reply, 
that  the  objection  concludes  equally  against 
the  existence  of  a  church  upon  earth;  for  it 
must  appear  in  some  visible  form,  or  else,  io 
us,  it  is  no  church:  and  the  argument  is  still 
good,  that  if  the  abolition  of  a  particular  form 
of  sealing  God's  covenant,  involves  the  abo- 
lition of  the  seal  itself,  then  the  abolition  of  a 
particular  form  of  his  church,  involves  the 
abolition  of  the  church  itself.  The  objection 
assumes  the  very  point  in  debate,  viz.  that 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  and  a  particular 
form  of  the  sealing  rite  are  co-existent,  and 
perish  together.  Whereas,  it  is  contended, 
that  the  cessation  of  the  latter  does  by  no 
means  imply  the  cessation  of  the  former ;  but 
that  the  seal  may  remain  the  same,  although 
the  rite  be  changed ;  and  may  pass,  in  its  full 
virtue  and  efficacy,  through  successive  forms 
of  application.  In  truth,  it  is  a  fundamental 
principle,  \ha.t  forms  of  dispeyisation  do  not 
affect  the  substance  of  the  things  dispensed. 
Otherwise,  the  covenant  of  grace  has  been 
changed  often.  But  if  five  forms  of  dispen- 
sation have  not  touched  the  substance  of  the 
covenant  of  grace ;  nor  three  forms  of  dispen- 
sation, the  substance  of  the  covenant  with 
Abraham;  why  should  the  disuse  of  a  par- 
ticular mode  of  sealing  this  latter,  draw  after 
it  the  destruction  of  the  seal  itself,  and  of 
all  the  relations  and  benefits  sealed?     The 


66  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

issue  is,  that  circumcision  may  be  laid  aside 
without  infringing  upon  the  covenant  to 
which  it  was  appended.  It  has  been  laid 
aside,  and  the  question  is,  What  has  been 
substituted  in  its  place?  As  none  of  the  par- 
ties to  this  controversy  pretend  that  it  has 
been  succeeded  by  any  other  ordinance  tlian 
baptism,  the  only  alternative  is,  either  that 
nothing  at  all  has  been  substituted  for  it,  or 
else  that  the  substitute  is  baptism. 

If  nothing — then  while  the  covenant  is  in 
force,  and  a  covenant  which  must  be  sealed 
too,  there  is  no  method  of  applying  the  seal. 

If  nothing — then  a  privilege  has  been  taken 
away  from  the  church,  and  she  has  received 
no  compensation;  contrary  to  the  whole  ten- 
or of  God's  dealing  with  her,  and  to  the 
positive  declarations  of  his  word. 

If  nothing — then  the  apostle  Peter  led  his 
hearers  astray,  in  assuring  them  that  the 
"  promise  was  to  them  and  their  children," 
which,  as  Jews,  they  could  not  understand  of 
any  other  promise  than  that  made  to  Abra- 
ham ;  nor  in  any  other  sense,  than  as  asserting 
the  joint  interest  of  their  infants,  with  them- 
selves, in  the  covenant  of  God,  and,  conse- 
quently, their  right  to  the  seal  of  that  interest. 
One  of  the  most  stubborn  and  rational  pre- 
judices of  the  Jews  against  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, was  the  fear  of  losing  the  privi- 
leges to  which,  as  Abraham's  seed  they  had 
a  covenant  claim;  and  which  they,  with 
better  excuse  than  Christians  now,  supposed 
to  be  inseparable  from  the  law  of  Moses. 


CHURCH    or    GOD.  67 

"  You  mistake  the  matter/^  cries  Peter,  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  there  is  nothing  in  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Chsist,  nor  the  new  economy 
which  he  has  introduced,  to  destroy  or  abridge 
the  mercies  held  out  and  secured  by  the  cove- 
nant with  Abraham.  The  Saviour  is,  himself, 
the  chief  blessing  of  that  covenant.  The  evan- 
gelical dispensation  displays  its  provisions  in 
clearer  light,  and  greater  extent.  The  pro- 
mise subsists  in  unabated  virtue,  and  Avith 
increased  glory ;  it  is,  at  this  moment,  as  much 
as  at  any  moment  past,  '  to  you  and  to  your 
children;'  but  it  is  also  to  ^all  them  that  are 
afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God 
shall  call.'''  How  could  the  words  of  Peter 
be  interpreted  by  a  Jew?  In  no  other  way 
than  this,  that  neither  the  covenant  Avith 
Abraham,  nor  the  seal  of  that  covenant,  nor 
the  interest  of  his  infant  seed  in  it  was  abro- 
gated, or  to  be  abrogated,  by  the  Christian 
dispensation.  How  could  they  be  interpreted 
by  a  Gentile?  In  no  other  way  than  this,  that 
persons  who  "were  afar  off,"  (the  very  phrase 
by  which  Paul  describes  the  Gentiles,)  being 
called  by  the  gospel,  should  come  into  the 
full  possession  of  all  the  benefits  which  are 
contained  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham; 
that  is,  should  enjoy,  equally  with  the  Jew, 
whatever,  according  to  the  nature  of  that 
covenant,  is  comprehended  in  the  declara- 
tion, "  I  will  be  thy  God,  and  the  God  of  thy 
seed:"  and  equally  with  the  Jew,  the  pledge 
and  seal  of  this  his  privilege.     The  Apostle 


Q8  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

speaks  of  a  promise  well  known  and  highly 
prized: — "the  promise,"  without  any  ex- 
planation. "What  promise?"  inquires  the 
Gentile.  Ask  your  brother,  the  Jew,  rejoins 
the  Apostle;  he  understands  me  thoroughly. 
It  is  the  promise  made  to  his  father  Abraham ; 
that  in  "  his  seed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
shall  be  blessed."  "True,"  you  will  interrupt, 
"  this  is  the  Apostle's  meaning,  and  it  says 
not  a  syllable  of  circumcision,  nor  of  its  rela- 
tion to  baptism;  nor  of  infant  church  mem- 
bership." Yes,  but  it  is  a  promise  in  Abra- 
ham's covenant:  it  depends  upon  the  immu- 
tability of  that  covenant.  For  no  engagement 
whatever,  can  survive  the  covenant  which 
gives  it  birth  and  validity.  And  this  very 
promise,  the  Holy  Ghost  being  judge,  was  to 
be  so  fulfilled,  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham 
might  come  upon  the  Gentiles;  which  must 
mean  that  they  and  their  seed  should  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  privileges  granted  to  Abraham 
and  his  seed :  so  that  the  children  of  professing 
Christians,  not  less  than  themselves,  should 
be  within  the  covenant,  and  entitled  to  its 
seal.  Thus  the  Jews  evidently  understood 
the  Apostle ;  for  among  all  their  objections  to 
the  Christian  system,  they  never  objected  the 
"exclusion  of  their  infant  seed  from  the  church 
of  God."  If,  therefore,  nothing  has  come  in 
the  place  of  circumcision,  the  Apostle  acted 
disingenuously  with  his  Jewish  hearers ;  and 
quieted  their  apprehension  by  a  fraud  upon 
their  consciences.     The  fraud  extended  to  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  69 

Gentile  converts;  for  it  referred  them  to  the 
Jewish  standard  of  interpretation;  and  every 
one  of  the  inspired  penmen  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  accessary  to  its  influence,  as  there 
is  not  a  sentence  in  all  their  writings  to  cor- 
rect the  error:  and  the  deception  will  not 
end  even  with  them  ! 

But  if  these  things  cannot  be  maintained 
— If  there  is  no  such  mockery  as  a  seal  with- 
out a  mode  of  sealing,  and  the  primitive  form 
of  circumcision  is  abolished — If  God  has  not 
stripped  his  church  of  a  privilege,  without 
giving  her  an  equivalent — If  the  holy  Apos- 
tle did  not  abuse  the  understanding  of  his 
hearers,  nor  sport  with  their  faith  in  his  ve- 
racity— then  is  baptism  the  substitute  for  cir- 
cumcision. 

But  as  this  conclusion  may  be  thought  too 
strong  for  the  general  argument  preceding  it, 
let  us  submit  it  to  a  more  direct  proof,  by 
inquiring  into  the  Scriptural  account  of  both 
circumcision  and  baptism.  And,  First,  let 
us  see  how  this  account  stands  with  regard 
to  them  separately.  It  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  contrast. 

CIRCUMCISION  BAPTISM 

1.  Was  an  initiatory  rite,  1.  Is  an  initiatory  rite 
by  which  the  circumcised  by  which  the  baptized  are 
were  owned  as  of  the  cove-  numbered  among  the  disci- 
nanted  seed,  and  of  the  peo-  pies  of  Christ,  and  the  mem- 
pleofGod.  bers  of  the  church  of  God. 

2.  Was  a  seal  of  the  right-  2.  The  person  is  baptized 
eousness  of  faith.  Rom.  iv.  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
11.  i.  e.  of  the  justification  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
of   a    sinner    through   the  (Acts    ii.     38.)    which     is 


70  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

righteousness  of  the  surety     through  faith  in  his  blood  ; 
embraced  by  faith.  so  that  God  is  just  and  the 

justifier  of  him  that  beUev- 

cth  in  Jesus. 
3.  Was  an  emblem  and  a  3.  Is  a  sign  and  means 
means  of  internal  sanctity,  of  our  sanctification  in  vir- 
"  The  Lord  thy  God  will  cir-  tue  of  our  communion  with 
cumcise  thine  heart,  and  the  Christ. — "  Buried  with  him 
heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  by  baptism  into  death ;  that 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up 
thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
soul,  that  thou  mayest  live."  of  the  Father,  even  so  we 
Deut.  XXX.  6.  Sec  also  ch.  also  should  vi'^alk  in  newness 
X.  16.  of  life."  Rom.   vi.  4.     See 

also  1  Pet.  iii.  21. 

The  parallel  is  certainly  striking.  Circum- 
cision and  baptism  do  both  put  a  mark  upon 
their  subjects,  as  belonging  to  that  society 
which  God  hath  set  apart  for  himself.  They 
both  signify  and  seal  that  wondrous  change 
in  the  state  of  a  sinner,  whereby,  being  justi- 
fied by  faith,  he  passes  from  condemnation 
into  acceptance  with  God;  which  doctrines 
of  pardon  and  acceptance  are  exhibited  in 
that  society  alone,  which,  under  the  name  of 
his  church,  God  hath  consecrated  to  himself, 
and  of  which  he  hath  appointed  the  circum- 
cised and  baptized  to  be  esteemed  members. 
Both  represent,  and  are  means  of  obtaining, 
that  real  purity  which  is  eifected  by  the  Spirit 
of  Christ;  and  is  the  characteristic  of  all  those 
members  of  his  church  who  are  justified  by 
faith  in  his  blood.  Such  a  coincidence  can- 
not be  casual.  It  bespeaks  design.  And 
seeing  that  circumcision  and  baptism  do  thus 
substantially  answer  the  same  ends,  and  that 
the  former  has  ceased,  the  only  sound  con- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  71 

elusion  is,  that  it  has  been  succeeded  by  the 
latter.  Change  of  dispensation  was  a  suffi- 
cient reason  why  the  form  of  sealing  the 
covenant  dispensed  should  also  be  changed ; 
and  the  points  of  difterence  between  baptism 
and  circumcision,  as  covenant  seals,  are  only 
such  as  were  demanded  by  the  nature  of  the 
change :  the  former  being  much  better  adapt- 
ed to  a  more  extensive  and  spiritual  dispen- 
sation than  the  latter.  And  this  is  an  addi- 
tional consideration  to  show  that  the  one  has 
been  substituted  in  the  room  of  the  other. 

Let  us  proceed  in  our  inquiry  by  examin- 
ing, Secondly,  into  the  scriptural  manner  of 
representing  circumcision  and  baptism  when 
they  are  spoken  of  together;  or  when  bap- 
tism is  mentioned  in  connexion  with  the 
covenant  of  which  circumcision  was  the  seal. 
Take  two  examples. 

1.  The  apostle  Peter,  in  his  famous  address 
to  Avhich  there  has  already  been  frequent 
reference,  assigns  the  perpetuity  of  Abra- 
ham's covenant,  and  the  validity  of  its  pro- 
mise, as  a  reason  why  his  Jewish  hearers 
should  be  baptized.  "■  Repent,''  says  he,  "and 
be  baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
for  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your 
children."  But  how  could  this  promise,  being 
still  assured  to  them  and  to  their  children,  be 
a  reason  for  their  baptism  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  unless  baptism  were  a  seal  of 
that  same  promise  as  exhibited  in  the  new 


72  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

economy  ?  "  Your  circumcision  sealed  to 
you/^  says  the  apostle,  "your  interest  in  the 
covenant  with  Abraham,  as  it  was  exhibited 
luider  the  law:  baptism  seals  your  interest 
m  that  covenant,  as  it  is  exhibited  in  perfec- 
tion under  the  gospel.  If  you  refuse  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  the  initiating  ordinance  of 
his  dispensation,  you  refuse  the  better  things 
which  God  has  provided  for  you.  If  you 
yield  yourselves  up  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
you  will  have  all  that  the  promise  contains 
in  its  application  to  this  better  state  of  things, 
sealed  unto  you;  therefore^  repent  and  be 
baptized.'^  In  this  view,  the  argument  is 
conclusive.  In  any  other,  it  is  of  no  force  at 
all.  What  persuasion  to  baptism  could  there 
be  in  the  consideration  that  the  promise  was 
to  them  and  their  children,  if  baptism  had  no 
relation  to  the  promise?  and  what  relation 
could  it  have  unless  as  a  seal,  occupying  the 
same  place  with  regard  to  the  promise  un^er 
the  new  dispensation,  which  was  occupied 
by  circumcision  under  the  old?  Admitting 
this,  every  thing  is  clear.  Two  initiatory 
rites  of  the  same  general  import,  cannot 
exist  together.  The  dispensation  by  Christ 
Jesus  takes  place  of  the  dispensation  by  Abra- 
ham, with  all  the  additions  by  Moses;  the 
form  oY  sealing  the  covenant  under  this,  takes 
place  of  the  form  of  seaUng  it  under  those. 
The  greater  contains  all  that  was  contained 
in  the  less,  and  supersedes  it.  Baptism  sup- 
plants circumcision. 

2.  In  the  epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Colossians, 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  73 

is  the  following  passage.  "  In  whom,''  viz. 
Christ,  ^<^also  ye  are  circumcised  with  the 
circumcision  made  without  hands,  in  put- 
ting off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  by 
the  circumcision  of  Christ;  buried  with  him 
in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are  risen  with 
him,  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of 
God,  who  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead.'' 
Chap.  ii.  11,  12. 

This  is  a  very  extensive  proposition,  made 
up  of  a  number  of  subordinate  ones  which  it 
is  necessary  distinctly  to  weigh. 

1st.  Both  circumcision  and  baptism  are  to 
be  viewed  as  signs  of  spiritual  mercies.  It 
is  for  this  reason  alone,  that  they  are  or  can 
be  employed  as  terms  to  convey  the  idea  of 
such  mercies. 

2d.  Circumcision  was  a  sign  of  regenera- 
tion, and  of  communion  with  Christ,  as  the 
fountain  of  spiritual  life.  The  Apostle  is  treat- 
ing of  a  believer's  completeness  in  Christ — 
oi  circumcision  in  Christ.  That  his  mean- 
ing might  not  be  mistaken,  he  explains  him- 
self of  the  inward  grace,  calling  it,  ^Hhe 
circumcision  made  without  hands,"  and  to 
cut  off  all  misconception,  he  explains  his  ex- 
planation, declaring  this  "  circumcision  with- 
out hands,"  to  be,  "  the  putting  off  the  body 
of  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  bv  the  circumcision 
of  Christ." 

3d.  Baptism,  too,  is  a  sign  of  regeneration, 
and  of  communion  with  Christ,  as  the  foun- 
tain of  spiritual  life. 

In  baptism,  saith  Paul,  ye  are  "buried  with 


/4  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

Christ,"  "ye  are  risen  with  him/'  through 
a  divine  faith,  "the  faith  of  the  operation 
of  God" — Whereas  ye  were  "  dead  in  sins, 
and  the  uncii^ciuncision  of  your  flesh, ^^  (un- 
circumcision  put  for  the  state  of  unregene- 
racy,)  God  hath  quickened  you  together  with 
Christ. 

Collect  now  the  result.  A  believer's  sanc- 
tification,  in  virtue  of  union  with  Christ,  Paul 
declares  to  be  represented  by  both  circumci- 
sion and  baptism;  for  he  expresses  his  doc- 
trine by  these  terms  indifferently;  and  an- 
nexes to  them  both,  the  same  spiritual  signi- 
fication. He  has,  therefore,  identified  the 
two  ordinances:  and  thus,  by  demonstrating 
that  they  have  one  and  the  same  use  and 
meaning,  he  has  exhibited  to  our  view  the 
A^ery  same  seal  of  God's  covenant,  under  the 
forms  of  circumcision  and  baptism  respec- 
tively. But  as  the  same  thing  cannot  subsist 
in  different  forms  at  the  same  time:  and  as 
the  first  form,  viz.  circumcision,  is  laid  aside ; 
it  follows,  that  the  seal  of  God's  covenant  is 
perpetuated  under  the  second  form,  viz.  bap- 
tism; and  that  it  signifies  and  seals  in  a  man- 
ner suited  to  the  evangelical  dispensation, 
whatever  was  previously  signified  and  sealed 
by  the  rite  of  circumcision. 

If  we  again  inspect  the  Apostle's  proposi- 
tion, we  shall  find,  that  he  directs  us  to  this 
conclusion,  as  well  by  the  structure  of  his 
phraseology,  as  by  the  force  of  his  argument. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  indiscriminate 
use  of  the  terms  circumcision  and  baptism. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  7o 

he  appears  to  assume,  as  an  indisputable  fact, 
the  substitution  of  the  latter  in  place  of  the 
former;  nor  is  it  easy  to  conceive  why  he 
should  discourse  in  this  allusive  manner,  if 
the  exchange  were  not  perfectly  understood 
among  Christians:  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
his  language  is  so  framed,  as  to  assert  that 
exchange.  '^  Circumcised — in  putting  off  the 
body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  by  the  circum- 
cision of  Christ;  buried  with  him  in  bap- 
tism.'^ What  can  the  Apostle  intend,  by  the 
''circumcision  of  Christ?'^  Doubtless,  not 
the  literal  rite,  for  this  would  destroy  at  once 
the  whole  of  his  reasoning  on  the  article  of 
sanctification,  in  the  same  way  as  it  is  de- 
stroyed by  those  who  interpret  the  phrase, 
<^  buried  with  him  in  baptism,"  of  submer- 
sion of  the  body  in  the  act  of  baptizing.  The 
Apostle  cannot  so  trifle.  By  the  "circumci- 
sion of  Christ,''  he  means  that  righteousness 
of  faith,  that  mortification  of  sin,  that  quick- 
ening influence,  which  flow  from  Christ,  and 
were  signified  by  circumcision.  But  that  same 
righteousness  of  faith  and  mortification  of  sin, 
and  quickening  influence,  are  also  signified 
by  baptism.  But  circumcision  and  baptism 
are  external  signs,  which  the  Apostle  recog- 
nizes by  specifying  the  things  signified.  In 
his  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other,  that 
is,  from  circumcision  to  baptism,  as  signify- 
ing, in  their  respective  places,  the  very  same 
blessings,  he  points  to  the  transition  which 
the  Church  of  God  has  made  in  fact,  from 
the  use  of  the  former  to  the  use  of  the  latter. 


/b  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

"  With  regard  to  the  things  signified,"  saith 
he,  "there  is  no  difference.  The  circumci- 
sion of  Christ,  and  burial  with  him  in  bap- 
tism, are  expressions  of  similar  import ;  both 
declaring  a  believer's  communion  with  him 
in  his  covenant  mercies.  With  regard  to  the 
outward  sign,  fellowship  with  Christ  in  his 
death  and  resurrection,  is  represented  in  bap- 
tism, as  putting  off  the  body  of  '  the  sins  of 
the  flesh'  was  formerly  represented  in  cir- 
cumcision.'^ If  this  be  just,  the  inference  is 
plain.  Baptism  is  the  Christian  circumci- 
sion; the  sign  of  baptism  is  the  Christian 
form  of  sealing  God's  covenant,  and,  as  such, 
has  taken  place  of  circumcision. 

In  confirmation  of  what  is  here  advanced, 
let  us  look,  for  a  moment,  at  the  apostle's 
account  of  Abraham's  circumcision;  Rom.  iv. 
11,  &c.  "He  received  the  sign  of  circum- 
cision, a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the  faith 
which  he  had,  yet  being  uncircumcised ;  that 
he  might  be  the  father  of  all  them  that  be- 
lieve, though  they  be  not  circumcised ;  that 
righteousness  might  be  imputed  unto  them 
also.  And  the  father  of  circumcision  to  them 
who  are  not  of  the  circumcision  only,  but 
Avho  also  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of 
our  father  Abraham,  which  he  had,  being 
yet  uncircumcised." 

Two  great  prerogatives  are  here  ascribed 
to  Abraham: 

1.  That  he  should  transmit,  in  the  line  of 
the  covenanted  seed,  the  righteousness  of 
faith  to  all  generations  and  nations  so  as  to 


CHURCH    OF    GOD  77 

be,  in  a  sense  which  belonged,  and  could  be- 
long, to  no  other  man,  the  Father  of  all  tliem 
that  believe. 

2.  That  with  the  righteousness  of  faith,  he 
should  transmit  the  seal  of  God's  covenant, 
by  the  intervention  of  which  it  was  to  be 
perpetuated  in  the  world,  and  actually  impu- 
ted to  all  believers.  For  he  was  not  only 
the  father  of  all  them  that  believe,  but  "  the 
father  of  circumcision'''  to  them. 

This  cannot  mean  the  things  signiJiedhY 
circumcision;  for  the  apostle  includes  them 
in  the  first  prerogative:  and  such  an  inter- 
pretation would  convert  into  mere  tautology, 
two  propositions  which  are  strongly  distin- 
guished from  each  other  in  the  text.  Circum- 
cision, says  the  apostle,  was  a  seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  the  faith  which  Abraham 
had  before  he  was  circumcised:  and  he  is 
the  father  of  this  circumcision  to  all  them 
who  walk  in  the  steps  of  his  faith;  that  is,  he 
transmits  the  sign  and  seal  along  with  the 
thing  signified;  conveying  the  evidence  of 
God's  covenant,  as  far  and  as  wide  as  he 
conveys  the  blessing  ministered  by  it,  so  that 
in  whatever  sense  he  is  the  father  of  them 
that  believe,  in  the  same  sense  is  he  the 
father  to  them  of  the  seal  of  that  righteous- 
ness which  they  embrace  by  faith:  and  fur- 
ther, the  benefits  conferred  through  the  me- 
dium of  Abraham's  covenant,  are  asserted 
to  be  contemporary  with  the  seal;  both  de- 
scending together  from  him  to  the  last  of  the 
covenanted  seed.  The  apostle  himself  applies 
8 


78  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

the  principle,  in  the  most  positive  terms,  to 
the  old  and  the  new  dispensation. 

To  the  old  dispensation-—"  The  father  of 
circumcision  to  them  who  are  not  of  the  cir- 
cumcision only,"  evidently  those  who,  being 
his  descendants,  or  incorparated  with  them, 
were  literally  circumcised.  They  inherited 
the  seal  from  their  father  Abraham.  This  is 
not  questioned.  But  the  apostle  extends  the 
principle, 

To  the  new  dispensation — -The  "  father  of 
circumcision  to  them  also  who  walk  in  the 
steps  of  his  faith. '^  In  what  sense  is  Abra- 
ham the  "father  of  circumcision,"  as  the 
apostle  maintains,  to  them  who  never  were 
literally  circumcised,  and  whom  he  expressly 
distinguishes  from  the  circumcision?  Mani- 
festly in  this  sense,  that  they,  being  accounted 
of  Abraham's  seed,  by  their  admission  into 
the  church  of  God,  receive  along  with  it,  by 
inheritance  from  the  patriarch,  the  seal  of 
that  covenant  in  which  they  are  become  inte- 
rested. But  circumcision  is  abolished  long 
ago:  yet  Abraham  is  the  father  of  circum- 
cision to  them  at  this  hour.  There  is  no 
avoiding  a  direct  contradiction,  but  upon  the 
principle,  that  though  the  outward  rite  of 
circumcision  is  discontinued,  yet  the  sub- 
stance of  the  ordinance,  the  seal  of  the  cove- 
nant, abides;  is  applied  under  another  form, 
and  is  as  really  inherited  by  the  people  of 
God  from  their  father  Abraham  in  that  form, 
as  it  was  inherited  by  them  of  old  in  the  form 
of  circumcision.     But  now,  if  this  seal  does 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  79 

not  subsist  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  it  has 
no  existence  at  all;  and  there  is  no  possible 
sense  in  which  Abraham  is  to  us  the  father 
of  circumcision.  Therefore,  baptism  has  suc- 
ceeded to  circumcision. 

This  reasoning  draws  after  it,  infaUibly, 
the  church-membership  of  infants,  and  their 
right  to  baptism.  For  as  there  is  no  distinc- 
tion between  the  mode  in  which  Abraham 
has  handed  down  the  sealed  privileges  of 
God's  covenant  to  those  who  were,  and  those 
who  were  not,  of  the  circumcision;  and  as 
they  were  made  over  to  the  former,  and  their 
infant  seed,  they  must  also  be  made  over  to 
the  latter  and  their  infant  seed.  It  is  no 
objection  to  the  foregoing  argument,  that 
baptism  is  administered  to  female  infants, 
whereas  only  males  were  circumcised:  be- 
cause the  extension  of  a  privilege  can  never 
be  pleaded  as  a  proof  of  its  abrogation;  and 
the  New  Testament  itself  has  positively  an- 
nulled, in  spiritual  things,  all  pre-eminence 
and  inferiority  arising  from  condition  or  sex. 

The  only  difficulty  of  any  importance,  un- 
der which  the  doctrine  of  these  pages  can 
labour,  is  the  application  of  the  seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  faith  to  multitudes  who  never 
had  and  never  will  have  that  righteousness ; 
consequently,  that  the  seal  of  God's  covenant, 
who  is  the  God  of  truth,  is,  by  his  own  ap- 
pointment, very  often  affixed  to  a  lie. 

The  difficulty  is  precisely  the  same  in  refer- 
ence to  circumcision  as  to  baptism.  The 
former  was  undoubtedly  "  a  seal  of  the  right- 


80  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

eousness  of  faith;"  and  as  iindoubtely  was 
often  applied  to  multitudes  who  never  had 
that  righteousness.  Did  the  God  of  truth, 
therefore,  certify  a  lie?  Methinks  so  blasphe- 
mous a  deduction,  which  is  equally  valid 
against  his  acknowledgedmsXiiuiion  of  infant 
circumcision,  as  against  his  disputed  institu- 
tion of  infant  baptism,  should  make  sober 
men,  who  cannot  escape  from  it,  suspect  the 
soundness  of  their  views.  It  is,  moreover, 
the  same  difficulty  which  occurs  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  supper,  and  in  the  bap- 
tism of  adults ;  unless  we  can  be  assured  that 
all  the  recipients  are  true  converts.  But, 
indeed,  the  difficulty  itself  is  created  by  erro- 
neous notions  of  the  nature  of  God's  church; 
by  confounding  visible  members  with  his 
elect — and  his  covenant  to  the  church,  with 
his  covenant  of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus.  A  pro- 
per application  of  this  distinction  will  remove 
it,  and  "  demonstrate  that  the  seal  of  God's 
covenant,  does,  in  every  instance,  certifj^  ab- 
solute truth,  whether  it  be  applied  to  a  be- 
liever, or  to  an  unbeliever;  to  the  elect,  or  to 
the  reprobate. 


ESSAY   V. 

INFANT- MEMBER 


In  our  preceding  number  we  gave  a  general 
view  of  the  church  of  God,  as  one  great  visi- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  81 

ble  society  which  he  has  taken  into  peculiar 
relations  to  himself.  We  traced  its  origin,  as 
an  orgajiized  whole,  up  to  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  of  which  we  explained  the  nature, 
and  proved  the  perpetuity.  We  also  inves- 
tigated the  uses  of  its  initiating  rite,  viz.  cir- 
cumcision; which,  we  assigned  reasons  to 
show,  has  been  exchanged,  under  the  evan- 
gelical dispensation,  for  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism ;  and  we  touched,  in  general  terms,  upon 
the  conclusion  which  our  premises  justify, 
respecting  the  ecclesiastical  condition  and 
privileges  of  infants  born  of  believing  parents. 
Having  avowed  our  persuasion,  that  they 
are,  in  virtue  of  their  birth,  members  of  the 
church  of  God,  and  entitled,  during  their  in- 
fancy, to  baptism  in  his  name,  we  shall,  in 
this  number,  state  our  conclusion  more  fully, 
and  shall  strengthen  it  with  some  auxiliary 
considerations. 

The  reader,  on  looking  back  to  Essay  III., 
p.  60,  will  find  the  following  paragraph. 

"  If,  as  has  been  already  demonstrated,  the 
covenant  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  was  a 
covenant  with  the  visible  church — if  this  cove- 
nant has  never  been  abrogated — if  its  rela- 
tions and  privileges,  with  an  exception  in 
favour  of  adults  who  desired  to  come  in  on 
the  profession  of  their  faith,  were  to  be  pro- 
pagated in  the  hue  of  natural  generation, 
THEN,  it  follows,  that  the  infant  seed  of  per- 
sons who  are  under  this  covenant,  are  them- 
selves parties  to  it;  are  themselves  members 
of  the  church ;  and  whatever  privileges  that 


82  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

infant  seed  had  at  any  given  period  in  the 
history  of  the  church,  it  must  retain  so  long 
as  the  covenant  is  in  force.  But  the  cove- 
nant is  in  force  at  this  moment;  therefore,  at 
this  moment,  the  covenant  privileges  of  the 
infant  seed  are  in  force.  Visible  membership 
is  one  of  those  privileges ;  therefore  the  infant 
seed  of  church-members  are  also  members  of 
the  church." 

This,  then,  is  the  ground  on  which  Ave  take 
our  stand  in  pleading  the  cause  of  the  chil- 
dren whom  God  has  given  us.  We  account 
them  members  of  his  church,  not  because 
tradition  has  called  them  so;  not  because 
the  practice  of  the  church  has  treated  them 
as  such;  but  because  he  constituted  them 
such  by  his  own  commandment  and  cove- 
nant which  he  has  never  revoked  until  this 
day 

To  insist,  therefore,  that  we  shall  produce, 
from  the  New  Testament,  a  precept  directly 
instituting  the  church-membership  of  infants, 
is  to  make  a  demand  with  which  we  are 
under  no  obligation  to  comply.  Such  a  pre- 
cept was  not  necessary.  The  relation  we 
are  inquiring  into  had  been  instituted  long 
before;  it  had  subsisted  without  one  mo- 
ment's interruption  for  more  than  nineteen 
centuries.  During  this  great  lapse  of  ages  it 
had  enlisted  on  its  side,  in  addition  to  its 
divine  original,  the  most  irrefragable  preju- 
dices of  antiquity,  the  most  confirmed  national 
habit,  and  the  fastidious  jealousy  of  preroga- 
tive.    In  this  state  of  its  prevalence  was  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  83 

evangelical  dispensation  announced.     If  the 
same  relation  of  infants  to  the  church  was  to 
continue  under  the  New  Testament  form, 
nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  assign  the  rea- 
son why  it  was  not  instituted  anew.     The 
principle  was  undisputed;  it  was  acted  upon 
as  a  principle  which  the  change  of  dispensa- 
tion did  not  touch;  and  consequently,  a  new 
mstitution  was  superfluous.     The  silence  of 
the  New  Testament  on  this  head,  is  alto- 
gether in  favour  of  those  who  maintain  that 
the  union  of  parents  with  the  church  of  God, 
includes  their  children  also.    But  on  the  sup- 
position that  this  principle  was  to  operate  no 
longer;  that  the  common  interest  of  children 
with  their  parents  in  God's  covenant  was  to 
cease ;  the  silence  of  the  New  Testament  is 
one  of  the  most  inexplicable  things  which 
ever  tortured  the  ingenuity  of  man.    If  there 
is  any  point  of  external  privilege  which  ought 
to  have  been  settled  with  the  most  definite 
precision,  one  would  imagine  that  this  is  the 
point.     But  we  are  taught  to  believe,  that  a 
constitution  which  is  engrafted  upon  a  prin- 
ciple that  penetrates  the  essence  of  human 
society;  which  coincides  with  the  genius  of 
every   other   divine   constitution  respecting 
man;  which  is  incorporated  with  his  animal, 
his  intellectual,   and   his   moral  character; 
which  is  interwoven  with   every  ligament 
and  fibre  of  his  heart,  shall  be  torn  away ; 
and  yet  the  statute-book  of  the  kingdom  in 
which  this  severity  originates,  shall  contain 
no  warrant  for  executing  it,  nor  a  syllable  to 


84  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

soothe  the  anguish  which  it  has  inflicted !   Is 
it  thus  that  God  deals  with  his  people?   Does 
this  look  like  his  wonted  condescension  to 
their  infirmities?     Does  it  bear  the  character 
of  that  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy 
which  belong  to   him  who  "knows  their 
frame,  and  remembers  that  they  are  dust?" 
When  the  economy  of  Moses  was  to  be 
superseded  by  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  pre- 
pared the  way  in  the  most  gradual  and  gen- 
tle manner;  he  showed  them  from  their  own 
Scriptures,  that  he  had  done  only  what  he 
had  intended  and  predicted  from  the  begin- 
ning; he  set  before  their  eyes  a  comparative 
view  of  the  two  dispensations,  to  satisfy  them 
that  they  had  lost  nothing,  but  had  gained 
much  by  the  exchange.     When  they  were 
"  dull  of  hearing,"  he  bore  with  their  slow- 
ness; when  they  were  extremely  unwilling 
to  part  with  Moses,  he  stooped  to  their  in- 
firmities; and  persevered  in  his  lenity,  till 
the  destruction  of  their  city,  their  sacrifices, 
their  temple,  their  nation,  left  their  further 
demurring  without  the  shadow  of  an  excuse. 
But  when  he  touched  them  in  the  point  of 
most  exquisite  sensibility — when  he  passed 
a  sword  through  their  souls  by  cutting  off 
their  children,  unable  to  distinguish  between 
good  and  evil,  from  all  the  interest  which 
they  once  had  in  his  church,  the  heavy  man- 
date is  preceded  by  no  warning,  is  accom- 
panied with  no  comfort;  is  followed  by  no- 
thing to  replace  the  privation;  is  not  even 
supported  by  a  single  reason !     The  thing  is 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  85 

done  in  the  most  summary  manner,  and  the 
order  is  not  so  much  as  entered  into  the  rule 
of  faith!  The  believing  mother  hears  that 
the  "  son  of  her  womb"  is  shut  out  from  the 
covenant  of  her  God,  but  hears  not  why !  Is 
this  the  ordinance  of  him  who,  "  as  a  father 
pitieth  his  children,  so  pities  them  that  fear 
him?''     It  cannot  be! 

Conceding,  then,  to  the  opposers  of  our 
children's  claim  as  members  of  the  Christian 
church,  all  that  they  ask  with  regard  to  the 
silence  of  the  New  Testament,  that  very  con- 
cession works  their  ruin.  If  their  views  are 
correct,  it  could  not  have  been  thus  silent. 
Out  of  their  own  mouths  we  draw  their  con- 
viction; and  cast  them  in  the  judgment  by 
the  very  evidence  which  they  offer  in  their 
vindication. 

The  case  is  now  reversed.  Instead  of  our 
producing  from  the  New  Testament  such  a 
warrant  for  the  privileges  of  our  infant  seed, 
as  they  require,  we  turn  the  tables  upon  them ; 
and  insist,  that  they  shall  produce  Scrip- 
tural proof  of  God's  having  annulled  the 
constitution  under  tvhich  ive  assert  our 
right.  Till  they  do  this,  our  cause  is  invin- 
cible. He  once  granted  to  his  church  the 
right  for  which  we  contend;  and  nothing  but 
his  own  act  can  take  it  away.  We  want  to 
see  the  act  of  abrogation ;  we  must  see  it  in 
the  New  Testament ;  for  there  it  is,  if  it  is  at 
all.  Point  it  out,  and  we  have  done.  Till 
then  we  shall  rejoice  in  the  consolation  of 
calling  upon  God  as  our  God,  and  the  God 
of  our  seed. 


86  CHITRCH    OP    OOD. 

2.  We  have  before  remarked,  that  the  ex- 
dusion  of  infants  from  the  Church  of  God, 
contradicts  all  the  analogies  of  his  external 
dispensations  towards  men.* 

A  correct  reasoner  will  require  the  highest 
evidence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible, 
before  he  admits  a  doctrine  involving  such  a 
consequence.  General  principles  are  the 
great  landmarks  of  truth.  They  furnish  tests 
by  which  to  try  the  soundness  of  those  end- 
less propositions  which  are  generated  by  the 
ceaseless  activity  of  the  human  mind.  One 
of  them,  well  understood  and  judiciously  ap- 
plied, is  a  better  preservative  from  error, 
than  a  million  of  those  small  arguments  by 
which  multitudes  regulate  their  opinion  and 
their  conduct. 

If,  indeed,  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  chil- 
dren shall  not  be  esteemed,  during  tlieir  in- 
fancy, as  members  of  the  New  Testament 
church ;  and  if  he  has  promulged  his  will  in 
this  matter  by  any  explicit  statute,  or  by  any 
act  which  necessarily  infers  such  an  appoint- 
ment, there  is  an  end  to  all  our  difficulties 
and  disquisitions.  "Thus  saith  Jehovah," 
discharges,  at  once,  every  human  inquiry. 
But  seeing  that,  in  every  public  constitution, 
he  always  identified  parents  with  their  chil- 
dren; and  that  in  every  other  department  of 
his  government  this  principle  is  conspicuous 
at  the  present  hour,  an  argument  of  the  most 
imperious  sort  thence  arises  in  favour  of 
our  children's  birthright  as  members  of  his 

*  See  pages  57 — 59. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  87 

church.  For  as  his  constitutions  of  nature 
and  of  grace  agree  with  the  most  wonderful 
harmony;'  and  as  this  agreement  is  the  foun- 
dation of  all  those  references  to  the  former, 
by  which  the  Scriptures  explain  and  illus- 
trate the  latter,  it  is  "passing  strange,"  that 
he  should  introduce,  into  the  heart  of  his 
church,  a  law  which  is  at  complete  variance 
with  the  whole  system  of  his  creation  and 
providence !  that  he  should  go  out  of  his  way 
to  make  an  exception,  not  /or,  but  against, 
his  own  people :  refusing  to  them,  as  mem- 
bers of  his  church,  the  benefit  of  an  ordinance 
which  in  other  societies  erected  by  his  autho- 
rity, he  freely  allows  to  mankind  at  large; 
and  refusing  it  at  the  expense  of  resuming, 
without  an  equivalent,  the  grant  which  he 
formerly  conveyed  to  them ! 

The  case  is  still  stronger  when  we  reflect 
that  the  children  of  believing  parents  parti- 
cipate in  all  the  disasters  of  the  external 
church.  If  she  be  corrupted,  the  corruption 
infects  them ;  if  she  be  persecuted,  the  perse- 
cution smites  them;  if  her  mercies  be  sinned 
away,  the  punishment  of  the  sin  lights  on 
them.  Could  they  suffer  more  upon  the  sup- 
position of  their  being  really  members?  It 
seems,  then,  that  they  are  to  share  in  all  her 
afflictions,  without  sharing  in  her  privileges: 
that  when  evil  overtakes  her,  they  are  to  be 
treated  as  citizens;  but  when  her  immuni- 
ties are  dispensed,  as  aliens.  So  that  the 
Lord  our  God  suspends  a  leading  principle 
of  his  physical  and  moral  order,  for  the  sake 


88  CHURCH    OP    GOI>. 

of  barring  the  seed  of  his  people  from  privi- 
lege; and  permits  it  to  take  its  full  course  for 
the  infliction  of  calamity  I  This  is  more  than 
incredible ! 

3.  If  the  children  of  believing  parents  are 
not  members  of  the  chm-eh,  before  making  a 
profession  of  their  own  faith,  it  follows,  that 
from  the  day  of  their  birth  to  the  day  of  their 
conversion,  they  stand  in  no  nearer  relation 
to  her  than  Pagans  or  Jews.  A  right  to  in- 
struct, to  warn,  to  entreat  them,  she  certainly 
has;  and  she  has  the  same  right  with  regard 
to  the  Jew  or  the  Pagan;  but  no  authoiHty 
over  any  of  them.  Her  jurisdiction  bemg 
necessarily  confined  to  her  own  subjects; 
having  no  power  to  "judge  them  that  are 
without ;''  and  the  children  of  her  members 
being"  without,^'  she  can  take  no  cognizance 
of  them  which  she  might  not  take  of  infant 
or  adult  heathen  who  are  within  her  reach. 
As  it  is  their  own  act  upon  which  they  are 
admitted  into  her  number,  so  it  is  that  same 
act  by  which  she  acquires  any  right  of  di- 
recting them.  Their  parents  she  can  enjoin 
to  "  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admo- 
nition of  the  Lord,'^  because  God  has  ren- 
dered it  a  branch  of  parental  duty;  and  she 
ought  to  enforce  the  observance  of  his  law 
by  all  those  spiritual  means  which  he  has 
confided  to  her  zeal.  But  if  parents  be  in- 
capable of  fulfilling  their  obUgations ;  if  they 
should  happen  to  be  separated  from  their 
families;  to  fail  through  negUgence,  or  be 
cut  off  by  death :  or  if  the  children  prove  re- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  89 

fractory  to  parental  admonition;  in  none  of 
these  cases  can  the  church  of  God  interpose 
any  further  than  to  perform  an  act  of  vohm- 
tary  benevolence.  Authority  is  out  of  the 
question.  For  what  authority  can  she  have 
over  those  who  never  sought  her  fellowship; 
to  whom  she  has  denied  her  privileges;  and 
whom  she  disowns  as  members?  The  same 
principle  upon  which  she  attempts  to  control 
the  children  of  her  members,  would  justify 
her  in  attempting  to  legislate  for  others  who 
are  without  her  pale,  extending  her  discipline 
to  Jews,  Turks,  Pagans;  nay,  to  the  whole 
world  lying  in  wickedness.  If  she  may  not  do 
this,  the  reason,  and  the  only  reason,  is  that 
they  are  not  her  members;  which  reason  is 
equally  valid  in  the  case  of  children  who  are 
not  her  members.  The  alternative  is  plain; 
either  the  Church  of  God  must  give  up  her 
care  over  youth  who  have  not  made  a  pro- 
fession of  their  faith ;  or  in  order  to  exercise 
it  must  commit  an  act  of  usurpation. 

But  how  can  a  Christian  be  reconciled  to 
either  part  of  the  alternative?  How  can  he 
persuade  himself  that  children  born  of  the 
people  of  God,  consecrated  to  his  fear,  and 
declared  by  his  inspired  apostle  to  be  "holy," 
are  no  more  members  of  his  church,  than  the 
savage  who  wanders  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Missouri?  How  can  he  persuade  himself, 
that  among  the  solemn  trusts  of  the  Christian 
church,  that  most  important  one  of  superin- 
tending the  youth,  has  been  omitted?  That 
she   has  received   no   charge,  possesses  no 


90  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

power,  and  is  under  no  responsibility,  on  this 
subject,  further  to  stimulate  the  individual 
efforts  of  parents,  masters,  or  teachers?  If 
she  has  received  any  other  commandment; 
if,  in  her  social  character,  she  is  bound  to 
provide  for  "  training  up  a  child  in  the  way 
in  which  he  should  go,"  then  the  children  to 
be  so  trained,  must  be  treated  as  her  mem- 
bers ;  and  are  members  in  fact,  for  God  never 
vested  her  with  authority  over  any  who  are 
not. 

To  set  this  point  in  another  light.  God,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  his  providence,  does 
actually  gather  his  "true  worshippers"  from 
the  families  of  his  people ;  and,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  days  of  their  youth.  He  does  it 
most  conspicuously  in  those  churches  which 
subject  them,  when  young,  to  the  most  exem- 
plary inspection.  He  has,  an  the  other  hand, 
frowned  upon  churches  as  they  became  re- 
miss in  this  particular;  his  good  Spirit  has" 
departed  from  them;  and  there  are  not  a  few 
which,  at  this  hour,  may  trace  their  declen- 
sion and  the  rapid  approach  of  their  desola- 
tion, to  the  neglect  of  their  youth.  But  to 
deny  that  children  are  members  of  the  church, 
is  to  deny  both  her  duty  and  her  right  to 
exercise  any  public  authority  over  them ;  and 
to  deny  it  in  opposition  both  to  the  blessing 
and  the  curse  of  God;  is  to  smite^the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom  in  the  heart  of  one  of  its 
most  precious  interests,  the  youth ;  and  to  do 
it  much  deeper  and  more  effectual  injury, 
than  it  is  likely  to  suffer  from  the  assaults  of 
open  enemies. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  91 

These  consequences  appear  to  us  inevita- 
ble. Far  from  us  be  tho  thought  of  imputing 
them  to  those  who  reject  the  church-member- 
ship of  infants ;  or  of  asserting  that  they  do 
in  fact  occur  as  regularly  as  we  might  expect. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  God  does  not  permit 
error  to  mature  all  the  deadly  fruits  which 
she  is  capable  of  bearing:  and,  on  the  other, 
the  nature  of  human  society  is  not  to  be  sub- 
verted by  theory.  Let  men  profess  what  they 
please ;  let  them  renounce,  and  if  they  think 
fit,  ridicule,  our  doctrine;  it  is  nevertheless 
true,  that  they  cannot  get  along  in  the  reli- 
gious, any  more  than  in  the  civil  communi- 
ty, without  more  or  less  considering  children 
as  members.  And  it  is  their  acting  upon 
the  very  principle  which  they  represent  as 
unscriptural  and  absurd,  that  saves  their 
churches  from  speedy  destruction. 

4.  From  the  date  of  the  covenant  with 
Abraham,  to  the  cessation  af  the  Mosaic 
law,  infants  were  undoubtedly  members  of 
God's  church.  The  seal  of  his  covenant  was 
in  their  flesh;  and  it  was  deemed  by  every 
Hebrew  a  prerogative  of  inestimable  worth. 
"  Uncircumcised,"  was  the  most  bitter  and 
disdainful  reproach  which  his  mouth  could 
utter.  He  would  sooner  lay  his  sous  in  the 
grave,  than  permit  them  to  ga  without  the 
token  of- their  being  Abraham's  seed.  On 
these  facts  we  found  three  inquiries.  The 
first  relating  to  the  privilege  which  God  con- 
ferred upon  his  people;  the  second  to  the 
effect  which  the  recalling  of  it  produced  on 


92  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

them ;  and  the  third  to  their  state  of  feeUng 
under  the  loss. 

First,  "The  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of 
the  righteousness  of  faith,"  applied,  by  divine 
direction,  to  infant  members  of  the  church, 
was  a  high  privilege. 

This  cannot,  with  even  a  show  of  reason, 
be  disputed.  That  God  should  subject  them 
to  a  painful  rite  which  was  of  no  use — that 
the  indelible  certification  of  his  being  their 
God,  as  he  had  been  the  God  of  their  fathers, 
should  be  coupled  with  no  benefit — that  he 
should  draw  them  into  covenant-relations 
which  were  good  for  nothing,  no  man  is  sot- 
tish enough  to  pretend.  Their  condition, there- 
fore, as  members  of  his  church,  and  the  sacra- 
mental sign  of  it,  was  a  real  and  an  important 
privilege. 

What  has  become  of  it? 

If  infants  are  no  longer  members  of  his 
church,  it  is  taken  away,  and  what  has  re- 
placed it?  Nothing.  Nothing!  then  God  has 
put  the  children  of  his  people  under  the  new 
dispensation,  further  from  him  than  they  were 
under  the  old.  He  has  inverted  his  method 
of  providence  toward  his  church,  which  has 
uniformly  been  to  bless  her  with  progres- 
swe\\^\t  and  favour; — the  communication  of 
his  grace  and  truth  always  increasing,  never 
diminishing ; — each  succeeding  dispensation 
comprehending  the  whole  mass  of  benefits 
which  belonged  to  the  preceding,  and  adding 
others  of  its  own.  But  in  this  solitary  instance 
the  course  of  his  covenant  is  changed !  And 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  93 

whereas  he  had  formerly  separated  his  peo- 
ple from  the  heathen  that  knew  him  not ;  had 
drawn  around  them  a  line  of  covenant-good- 
ness ;  had  put  their  little  ones  within  the  holy 
circle ;  and  had  instructed  them  to  cherish  the 
distinction  as,  in  his  sight,  of  great  price — yet 
now,  when  he  is  to  enlarge  their  inheritance, 
and  enrich  their  joys;  to  fulfill  the  promise  of 
those  good  things  which  "  eye  had  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  neither  had  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man,"  he  begins  with  teUing  them 
that  though  he  will  still  be  their  God,  he  will 
no  longer  be  the  God  of  their  seed;  that  he 
has  cast  their  babes  out  of  his  church,  over 
the  line  of  his  covenant,  in  among  the  "  dogs/*' 
And  all  this,  after  he  had  sworn  that  he  would 
"not  break  his  covenant,  nor  alter  the  thing 
that  had  gone  out  of  his  mouth :''  and  having 
done  it,  commissions  his  apostle  to  declare, 
that  "  his  gifts  and  his  calling  are  without 
repentance;"  i.  e.  that  a  grant  which  he  has 
once  made  to  his  church,  he  never  annuls ! 
Believe  it  who  can.* 

*  Rom.  xi.  29.  That  the  unchaiigeableness  of  God's  gifts 
and  caUing-  refers  to  his  church,  we  conclude  from  the 
whole  scope  of  the  apostle's  reasoning  in  the  context;  part 
of  which  proves  the  recovery  of  Israel  to  the  mercies  of 
their  fathers;  and  proves  it  from  the  consideration,  that  it 
is  God's  gracious  design  to  reinstate  them  in  their  privi- 
leges; that  this  design  is  to  be  accomplished  in  virtue  of 
the  "  gifts  and  calling"  to  their  fathers  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob.  And  as  they  cannot  be  reinstated  but  by  em- 
bracing Christianity,  these  unchangeable  "  gifts  and  call- 
ing," must  be  continued  in  the  New  Testament  church. 
Infant-membership  was,  incontrovertibly,  one  of  the  gifts: 
therefore,  if  the  children  of  his  people  are  not  members  of 
his  church,  God  has  broken  hisc  ovenant. 
9 


94  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

Let  us,  however,  allow  that  we  have  mis- 
construed the  divine  covenant;  and  that  in- 
fants born  after  the  settlement  of  the  new 
economy,  had  no  such  claim  as  had  the  infant 
posterity  of  Abraham.  How  did  the  new 
arrangement  affect  the  children  of  those  who 
were  the  first  members  of  the  Christian 
church?  For  example,  those  who  were  add- 
ed to  her  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  This  is 
our 

Second  Inquiry. 

The  rule  of  G  od's  proceeding  against  those 
who  should  reject  the  Messiah,  was  laid  down 
by  Moses;  and  is  thus  quoted  and  explained 
by  the  apostle  Peter:  "Moses  truly  said  unto 
the  Fathers,  a  prophet  shall  the  Lord  your 
God  raise  up  unto  you,  of  your  brethren,  like 
unto  me ;  him  shall  ye  hear  in  all  things  what- 
soever he  shall  say  unto  you.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  every  soul  which  will  not 
hear  that  prophet,  shall  be  destroyed  from 
among  the  people.'^  Acts  iii.  22,  23. 

The  sin  of  which  the  Jews  were  warned 
by  their  great  lawgiver,  was  their  not  obey- 
ing the  voice  of  his  greater  successor;  that 
is,  the  sin  of  rejecting  the  Messiah.  The 
punishment  denounced  against  this  sin,  was 
"  destruction  from  among  the  people."  Who 
were  the  people?  And  what  was  the  destruc- 
tion? 

(1.)  Who  were  the  people? 

Not  the  nation  of  the  Jews.  For,  having 
committed  the  crime,  they  themselves  fell 
under  the  penalty.     Their  nation  was  to  be 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  95 

destroyed  5  whereas,  according  to  the  predic- 
tion of  Moses,  it  was  not  tlie  people  that  were 
to  perish;  but  the  disobedient  who  were  to 
be  destroyed  from  ainongtlie  people;  which 
impUes  the  continuance  of  that  people  in  the 
divine  protection.  It  is  a  people,  therefore, 
which  was  to  survive  the  rejection  of  the 
Jews,  and  be  placed  in  such  circumstances  of 
favour,  as  to  render  destruction  from  among 
them  a  great  and  terrible  judgment. 

Not  the  people  whom  God  "  hath  chosen 
in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
that  they  should  be  holy."  For  God  never 
"cast  away  his  people  whom  he  foreknew." 
Rom.  xi.  2.  Acts  xiii.  48.  They  who  com- 
mitted the  crime  before  us,  never  belonged 
to  this  people,  and  so  could  not  be  destroyed 
from  among  them ;  and  they  whom  God  had 
thus  chosen  did  not  commit  the  crime.  "As 
many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life,  be- 
lieved." 

Who  then  are  "the  people"  from  among 
whom  the  sinners  were  to  be  destroyed?  If 
not  the  Jewish  people,  if  not  the  elected  peo- 
ple of  God,  it  can  be  no  other  than  that 
PEOPLE  whom  he  owns  as  his,  and  who 
are  called  by  the   collective   name   of  his 

CHURCH.* 

*  This  passage  furnishes  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the 
unity  and  perpetuity  of  the  Visible  Church. 

For,  1.  These  rebels  were  a  part  of  the  people  from 
among  whom  they  were  to  be  destroyed  :  which  people  we 
have  proved,  could  be  no  other  than  the  people  or  church 
of  God. 

2.  The  people  or  church  from  which  they  were  to  be 


96  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

(2.)  What  was  the  "destruction?" 

Not  temporal  death:  for  God  never  or- 
dained this  punishment  for  the  sin  of  unbe- 
lief on  his  Son. 

Not  an  exclusion  from  the  communion  of 
the  Jewish  nation ;  for  unbelief  in  Christ  was 
to  them  a  recommendation  instead  of  a  dis- 
paragement; and  to  be  severed  from  them 
entirely,  was  at  least  as  likely  to  prove  a 
blessing  as  a  curse. 

In  what,  then,  did  the  destruction  consist? 
Undoubtedly,  in  having  their  name  and  place 
exterminated  from  among  the  people  of  God; 
in  being  cast  out  of  his  church,  and  exposed 
to  that  perdition  which  shall  be  the  fate  of 
all  whom  he  disowns.  This  must  be  the 
interpretation  of  the  threatening,  because 
no  other  will  comport  with  either  sense  or 
fact. 

Let  us  now  see  how  this  bears  upon  the 
point  before  us. 

The  unbelieving  Jews  were  cut  off,  for 
their  unbelief,  from  the  church  of  God;  and, 
surely,  it  will  not  be  accounted  the  least  part 
of  the  vengeance,  that  their  children  shared 
their  fate. 

destroyed,  was  to  remain  a  people,  and  the  peculiar  object 
of  the  divine  regard.  This  is  true  of  no  people  but  that 
which  composes  his  church.  The  Christian  church  is 
therefore  the  very  same  church  from  which  the  Jews  were 
cast  out. 

3.  The  term  "  people"  cannot  designate  the  church  other- 
wise  than  as  a  great  WHOLE.  The  more  we  "  search 
the  Scriptures,"  the  more  does  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses" 
thicken  round  us  to  testify  that  "  the  Church  of  God  is 
ONE." 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  97 

But  the  case  of  believing  Jews  was  exactly 
the  reverse.  If  they  who  would  not  hear  the 
divine  prophet  were  to  be  destroyed  from 
among  the  people;  it  certainly  follows,  that 
they  who  would  and  did  hear  him,  should 
not  be  destroyed;  but  should  retain  their  place 
and  privileges.  And  if,  in  the  execution  of 
the  curse  upon  the  disobedient,  their  children 
also  were  cut  off;  then,  God's  own  act  estab- 
lishing the  principle  of  judgment,  the  children 
of  those  who  were  not  disobedient,  partici- 
pated in  their  blessing;  i.  e.  instead  of  being 
destroyed  from  among  the  people,  were  num- 
bered with  them;  or,  which  is  the  same,  were, 
by  his  own  authority,  reckoned  members  of 
his  church. 

These  infants,  then,  being  in  the  church  of 
God  already,  the  question  is,  by  what  authori- 
ty were  they  cast  out?  It  would  be  an  un- 
heard of  thing  if  the  faith  of  their  parents  in 
the  "  consolation  of  Israel,''  should  expel 
them.  A  singular  way,  indeed,  of  convert- 
ing a  Jew,  to  tell  him  that  the  very  fact  of 
his  being  a  believer  in  Christ  would  excom- 
municate his  children!  The  issue  is  short. 
Either  the  children  of  believing  Jews  were 
members  of  the  church  under  her  Christian 
form,  or  not.  If  not,  then,  in  so  far  as  their 
children  were  concerned,  God  inflicted  upon 
the  faith  of  parents,  that  very  curse  which 
he  had  threatened  upon  their  unbelief.  If 
otherwise,  then  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
new  dispensation,  infants  were  members  of 


98  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

his  church.  We  give  our  opponents  their 
option. 

We  have  yet  to  answer  a 

Third  Inquiry,  concerning  the  excision  of 
infants  from  the  New  Testament  church:  or, 
if  you  prefer  it,  their  non-admission  to  her 
privileges. 

How  must  such  a  measure  have  operated 
upon  the  feehngs  of  a  beheving  Jew? 

Tenacious,  in  a  high  degree,  of  their  pecu- 
harities — ^regarding  their  relation  to  Abraham 
as  momentous  to  their  individual  happiness; 
and  as  the  most  prominent  feature  of  their 
national  glory — ^knowing,  too,  that  their  chil- 
dren were  comprised  with  themselves  in  the 
covenant  of  God,  it  is  not  possible  that  the 
Hebrews  could  have  submitted,  without  re- 
luctance, to  a  constitution  which  was  to  strip 
them  of  their  favourite  privilege;  to  dissever 
their  tenderest  ties;  to  blot  the  names  of  their 
httle  ones  out  of  the  register  of  God's  people ; 
and  treat  them  afterwards,  from  generation 
to  generation,  as  the  little  ones  of  the  heathen 
man  and  the  publican !  On  every  other  pre- 
rogative, real  or  imaginary,  their  suspicion 
was  awake,  their  zeal  inflammable,  their 
passions  intractable.  But  toward  this,  their 
grand  prerogative,  they  evinced  a  tameness 
which  required  them  to  forget,  at  once,  that 
they  were  men  and  that  they  were  Jews. 
Search  the  records  of  the  New  Testament 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  you  will  not 
find  the  trace  of  a  remonstrance,  an  objection, 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  99 

or  a  difficulty  on  this  subject,  from  the  mouth 
of  either  abeheviiig  or  anunbeUeving  Israel- 
ite! the  former  never  parted  with  a  tittle 
of  even  the  Mosaic  law,  till  the  will  of  God 
was  so  clearly  demonstrated  as  to  remove 
every  doubt :  the  latter  lay  constantly  in  wait 
for  matter  of  accusation  against  the  Chris- 
tians. Nothing  could  have  prompted  him  to 
louder  clamour,  to  fiercer  resistance,  or  to 
heavier  charges,  than  an  attempt  to  overturn 
a  fundamental  principle  af  the  covenant  with 
Abraham :  nothing  could  have  more  startled 
and  distressed  the  meek  and  modest  disciple. 
Yet  that  attempt  is  made;  that  fundamental 
principle  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  is 
overturned;  and  not  a  friend  complains,  nor 
a  foe  resents !  What  miracle  of  enchantment 
has  so  instantaneously  relieved  the  conscience 
of  the  one,  and  calmed  the  wrath  of  the  other? 
Where  is  that  wayward  vanity,  that  captious 
criticism,  that  combustible  temperament,  that 
insidious,  implacable,  restless  enmity,  which 
by  night  and  by  day,  in  country  and  in  town, 
haunted  the  steps  of  the  apostles,  and  treas- 
ured up  actions,  words,  looks,  for  the  hour  of 
convenient  vengeance  ?  All  gone ;  dissipated 
in  a  moment !  The  proud  and  persecuting 
Pharisee  rages  at  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ; 
fights  for  his  traditions  and  his  phylacteries; 
and  utters  not  a  syllable  of  dissent  from  a 
step  which  completely  annihilates  the  cove- 
nant with  Abraham !  that  very  covenant  from 
which  he  professes  to  derive  his  whole  im.- 


100  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

portance ! !  We  can  believe  a  great  deal,  but 
not  quite  so  much  as  this. 

Should  it  be  alleged,  that  the  Jews  did 
probably  oppose  the  exclusion  of  their  in- 
fants from  the  New  Testament  Church,  al- 
though the  sacred  writers  have  omitted  to 
mention  it :  we  reply, 

That  although  many  things  have  happened 
which  were  never  recorded ;  and,  therefore, 
that  the  mere  silence  of  an  historian,  is  not, 
in  itself,  conclusive  against  their  existence; 
yet  no  man  may  assume  as  proof,  the  exist- 
ence of  a  fact  which  is  unsupported  by  either 
history  or  tradition.  On  this  ground,  the 
plea  which  we  have  stopped  to  notice  is  per- 
fectly nugatory. 

In  the  present  case,  however,  the  proba- 
bilities look  all  the  other  way.  We  mean, 
that  if  the  Jews  had  made  the  opposition, 
which,  on  the  supposition  we  are  combat- 
ting, it  is  inconceivable  they  should  not  have 
made,  it  would  have  been  so  interwoven  with 
the  origin,  constitution,  progress,  and  transac- 
tions of  the  primitive  Church,  as  to  have  ren- 
dered an  omission  of  it  almost  impossible. 

The  question  about  circumcision  and  the 
obligation  on  the  Gentile  converts  to  keep 
the  law  of  Moses,  shook  the  churches  to  their 
centre ;  and  was  not  put  at  rest  but  by  a  for- 
mal decision  of  the  apostles  and  elders.  Now 
as  circumcision  was  the  seal  of  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  which  explicitly  constituted  infants 
members  of  the  Church,  is  it  to  be  imagin- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  101 

ed  that  so  hot  a  controversy  should  have  been 
kindled  about  the  enseaUng  rite,  and  none  at 
all  about  the  privilege  sealed?  or  that  a  re- 
cord should  have  been  carefully  preserved 
of  the  disputes  and  decision  concerning  the 
sign;  and  no  record  at  all  kept  of  the  discus- 
sions concerning  the  thing  signified,  which 
imparted  to  the  former  all  their  interest  and 
value  ? 

It  is,  therefore,  utterly  incredible  that  the 
resistance  of  Jews  to  the  Christian  arrange- 
ment for  shutting  out  their  children  from  the 
church  of  God,  should  have  passed  unnoticed. 
But  no  notice  of  any  such  resistance  is  in  the 
New  Testament.  The  conclusion  is,  that  no 
such  resistance  was  ever  offered;  and  the 
conclusion  from  this  again  is,  that  no  cause 
for  it  existed :  that  is,  that  the  infants  of  pro- 
fessing parents  were  considered  as  holding, 
under  the  new  economy,  the  same  place  and 
relation  which  they  held  under  the  old. 

Our  conclusion  acquires  much  force  from 
the  nature  of  the  controversy  respecting  cir- 
cumcision. The  Judaizing  teachers  made 
the  observance  of  this  rite,  a  term,  not  only 
of  communion,  but  of  salvation.  "  Except 
ye  be  circumcised,"  said  they, "  and  keep  the 
law  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved."  Had 
their  doctrine  prevailed,  circumcision  in  the 
Christian  church  must  have  been  regulated 
by  the  Mosaic  law.  But  this  law  prescribed 
the  circumcision  of  infants.  Now,  under 
what  pretext  could  they  urge  a  compliance 
with  this  ordinance,  according  to  the  law  of 
10 


102  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

Moses,  upon  the  Gentile  converts,  unless  it 
were  an  undisputed  point  that  the  children 
of  these  converts  were  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church?  An  exception  was  at  hand, 
"  Whatever  may  be  the  duty  of  adults,  there 
is  no  reason  to  circumcise  infants;  because, 
by  the  new  order  of  things,  they  do  not  be- 
long to  the  Christian  community,  and  have 
no  concern  with  its  sealing  ordinances."  Yet 
no  such  exception  was  ever  taken. 

This  one  fact,  under  all  its  circumstances 
and  connexions,*  is  equivalent  to  a  doctrinal 
declaration  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Je- 
rusalem, that  the  change  of  dispensation  has 
not  affected  the  rights  of  infants  born  of  be- 
lieving parents;  and  that  they  are  under  the 
Christian,  as  really  as  they  were  under  the 
Mosaic,  economy,  members  of  the  church  of 
God;  and  as  fully  entitled  to  its  initiating 
ordinance. 

5.  The  language  of  God's  word,  respect- 
ing children,  is  in  perfect  accordance  with 
the  principle  of  their  being  members  of  his 
church;  but  is  irreconcilable  with  the  con- 
trary supposition. 

Enumerating  some  of  the  benefits  of  the 
new  economy,  he  says,  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
that  his  people  "  shall  not  labour  in  vain,  nor 
bring  forth  for  trouble ;  for  they  are  the  seed 
of  the  blessed  of  the  Lord,  and  their  offspring 
with  them,^^  Isa.  Ixv.  23.  The  Redeemer, 
in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  was  much  displeased 
with  an  attempt  of  his  disciples  to  keep  back 

*  Compare  Acts  xxi.  21. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  103 

infants  from  approaching  him,  and  said, 
"  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  God.^^  Mark  x.  14.  An  expression 
which,  we  well  know,  signifies  the  New- 
Testament  church.  "  The  promise,"  said 
Peter,  after  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at 
Pentecost,  "  The  promise  is  to  you,  and  to 
your  children^  Acts  ii.  39. 

These,  and  similar  expressions,  with  which 
the  word  of  God  abounds,  correspond  much 
better  to  that  system  which  associates  chil- 
dren with  their  parents  in  his  church,  than 
with  that  which  rejects  them  as  no  part  of 
it.  And  we  must  have  very  strong  reasons 
to  justify  our  embracing  a  system  which  re- 
quires a  language  contrary  to  the  genius  of 
the  language  which  the  Holy  Spirit  himself 
has  selected. 

6.  Unless  we  greatly  mistake,  the  apostle 
Paul  has  twice  decided  the  question  before 
us  in  the  most  unequivocal  manner;  and  de- 
cided it  in  our  favour. 

One  of  his  decisions  is  in  the  following 
words:  "  The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  wife;  and  the  unbelieving  wife 
is  sanctified  by  the  husband ;  else  were  your 
children  unclean,  hut  now  are  they  holy." 
1  Cor.  vii.  14. 

In  what  sense  does  a  beUeving,  sanctify 
an  unbelieving,  parent,  so  that  their  children 
are  holy  ?  Wherein  does  this  holiness  con- 
sist? Some  have  been  so  galled  by  this  as- 
sertion of  the  apostle,  that  they  have  tried  to 


104  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

fritter  it  down  into  a  grave  declaration  of  the 
legitimacy  of  children  born  of  parents  thus 
situated.  As  if  faith  in  Christ  were  neces- 
sary to  the  vahdity  of  espousals?  As  if  all 
the  marriages  of  the  heathen  were  mere  con- 
cubinage ;  and  all  their  children  the  fruit  of 
illicit  amours! 

The  apostle  certainly  does  not  mean  that 
one  parent  communicates  to  another,  or  that 
either  of  them  communicates  to  their  chil- 
dren, that  internal  conformity  to  the  divine 
purity,  which  is  commonly  called  "  holiness" 
or  sanctification.  This  is  contrary  to  reason, 
to  Scripture,  and  to  daily  experience.  Yet 
he  says  that  a  believing  parent  renders  holy 
the  unbelieving  one;  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, their  children  are  holy.  What  does 
he  mean? 

"  Holy,"  as  a  term  of  established  use  and 
signification,  was  well  understood  by  the 
Corinthian  Christians.  It  expresses  the  state 
of  a  person  or  thing  specially  separated  to 
the  service  of  God;  and,  in  which, by  reason 
of  that  separation,  he  acquires  a  peculiar 
property.  I  For  this  interpretation  we  have 
his  own  authority — when  prohibiting  various 
pollutions,  he  thus  addresses  the  people  of 
Israel ;  "  Ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me ;  for  1  the 
Lord  am  holy;  and  have  severed  ^ow.  from 
other  people,  that  ye  should  be  mine.^^  Lev. 
XX.  26.  This  "  severing"  was  effected  by  his 
covenant  with  them.  They  were  "  holy," 
because  they  belonged  to  his  church,  which 
he  had  erected  to  put  his  name  and  his  glory 
there. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  105 

(  "Unclean,"  as  contrasted  with  "holy," 
expresses  the  state  of  a  person  not  separated 
to  the  service  of  God :  in  whom  he  has  no 
peculiar  interest,  and  who  is,  therefore,  "com- 
mon;" i.  e.  unappropriated  to  God.  All 
who  are  conversant  with  the  scriptural  phra- 
seology know  this  representation  to  be  true. 

What,  then,  does  the  apostle  say?  He 
says  that  if  the  unbelieving  were  not  sancti- 
fied by  the  believing,  parent,  their  children 
would  be  "  unclean ;"  would  be  "  common;" 
would  have  no  peculiar  relation  to  God,  nor 
any  place  in  his  church.  But  since  the  be- 
lieving does  sanctify  the  unbelieving  parent, 
their  children  are  the  reverse  of  "  unclean :" 
they  are  "  holy ;"  they  are  born  under  pecu- 
har  relations  to  God;  they  are  appropriated 
to  him;  they  are  members  of  his  church; 
and  as  such  they  undoubtedly  have  a  right 
to  the  token  of  their  membership — to  bap- 
tism. 

Considering  the  nature  of  the  Scriptural 
style;  and  that  "holy,"  and  "unclean,"  or 
"common,"  are  the  precise  terms  for  such 
as  were,  and  as  were  not,  respectively,  with- 
in the  external  covenant  of  God,  we  are  un- 
able to  conceive  how  the  apostle  could  more 
formally  and  unequivocally  have  declared 
the  church-membership  of  infants  born  of  a 
believing  parent.  The  first  of  these  terms 
was,  in  his  mouth,  exactly  what  "  a  member 
of  the  church"  is  in  ours;  and  could  not  be 
otherwise  understood  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians. 


106  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

The  only  plausible  difficulty  which  lies 
against  our  view,  is,  that  "  According  to  the 
same  reasoning,  an  unbeliever,  continuing  in 
unbelief,  becomes  a  member  of  the  Church 
in  consequence  of  marriage  with  a  believer. 
For  the  apostle  does  not  more  positively 
affirm  that  the  children  are  "  holy,"  than  he 
affirms  that  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife 
sanctified,  or  "  made  holy,"  by  the  husband. 
Therefore,  if  holiness  imparted  by  the  parent 
to  the  children,  makes  them  members  of  the 
church,  the  holiness  imparted  by  one  parent 
to  the  other,  makes  him  or  her  a  member  of 
the  church.  This  will  not  be  maintained. 
For  it  would  be  absurd  to  imagine,  that  an 
infidel  adult,  living  in  open  hostility  to  the 
church  of  God,  should  be  reckoned  among 
its  members  merely  in  virtue  of  union  to  a 
believing  husband  or  wife.  Well  then,  if  the 
"  sanctification,"  which  an  unbeUeving  wife 
derives  from  her  believing  husband,  does  not 
make  her  b.  member  of  the  church,  the  "  ho- 
liness" which  children  derive  from  a  beUev- 
ing  parent  cannot  make  them  members  of  the 
church." 

The  objection  is  shrewd:  but  like  many 
other  shrewd  things,  more  calculated  to  em- 
barrass an  inquirer,  than  to  assist  him.  Our 
answer  is  short. 

First,  It  makes  the  apostle  talk  nonsense. 
The  amount  of  it  when  stripped  of  its  speci- 
ousness  and  tried  by  the  standard  of  common 
sense,  being  neither  more  nor  less  than  this, 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  107 

that  all  his  discourse  about  the  sanctification 
of  husband  and  wife,  and  the  holiness,  of 
their  children,  means — just  nothing  at  all. 
For  if  it  be  not  an  internal  holiness,  which 
we  do  not  affirm;  nor  an  external  relative  holi- 
ness, which  the  objection  denies;  then  a  per- 
son is  said  by  the  apostle  to  be  holy,  whose 
holiness  is  neither  within  him  nor  without 
him;  neither  in  soul,  nor  spirit,  nor  body, 
nor  state,  nor  condition,  nor  any  thing  else  ; 
which  in  our  apprehension,  is  as  genuine  non- 
sense as  can  well  be  uttered.  If  those  who 
differ  from  us  feel  themselves  wronged,  we 
beg  them  to  show  in  what  the  holiness  men- 
Honed  by  the  apostle  consists. 

Secondly.  The  objection  takes  for  granted, 
that  the  sanctification  of  the  husband  by  his 
wife,  or  of  the  wife  by  her  husband,  is  pre- 
cisely of  the  same  extent,  and  produces  on  its 
subject  the  same  effect,  as  the  holiness  which 
children  inherit  from  a  believing  parent.  This 
is  certainly  erroneous. 

(1.)  The  covenant  of  God  never  founded 
the  privilege  of  membership  in  his  church 
upon  the  mere  fact  of  intermarriage  with 
his  people:  but  it  did  expressly  found  that 
privilege  upon  the  fact  of  being  born  of  them. 

(2.)  By  a  positive  precept,  adults  were  not 
to  be  admitted  into  the  church  without  a  pro- 
fession of  their  faith.  This  is  a  special  sta- 
tute, limiting  in  the  case  of  adults,  the  general 
doctrine  of  membership.  Consequently  the 
doctrine  of  Paul  must  be  explained  by  the 
restriction  of  that  statute.     "  Sanctify"  her 


108  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

unbelieving  husband  the  believing  wife  does ; 
and  so  does  the  believing  husband  his  unbe- 
lieving wife;  i.  e.  to  a  certain  length;  but 
not  so  far  as  to  render  the  partner  thus  sanc- 
tified, a  member  of  the  church — the  former 
cannot  be  doubted,  for  the  apostle  peremp- 
torily asserts  it — the  latter  cannot  be  admit- 
ted; for  it  would  contravene  the  statute  al- 
ready quoted.  The  membership  of  infants 
does  not  contravene  it.  And,  therefore,  al- 
though the  holiness  which  the  apostle  as- 
cribes to  infants  involves  their  membership ; 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  sanctifying  influ- 
ence over  an  unbelieving  husband  or  wife, 
which  he  ascribes  to  the  believing  wife  or 
husband,  involves  the  church-membership  of 
the  party  thus  sanctified. 

(3.)  The  very  words  of  the  text  lead  to  the 
same  conclusion.  They  teach  us,  in  the  plain- 
est manner,  that  this  sanctification  regards 
the  unbelieving  parent  notybr  his  own  sake, 
but  as  a  medium  affecting  the  transmission 
of  covenant-privilege  to  the  children  of  a  be- 
liever. 

A  simple,  and  we  think,  satisfactory  ac- 
count of  the  matter  is  this  : 

Among  the  early  conversions  to  Christian- 
ity, it  often  happened,  that  the  gospel  was 
believed  by  a  woman,  and  rejected  by  her 
luisband;  or  believed  by  a  man,  and  rejected 
by  his  wife.  One  of  the  invariable  effects  of 
Christianity  being  a  tender  concern  in  parents 
for  the  welfare  of  their  offspring ;  a  question 
was  naturally  suggested  by  such  a  disparity 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  109 

of  religious  condition,  as  to  the  light  in  which 
the  children  were  to  be  viewed.  Consider- 
ing the  one  parent,  they  were  to  be  account- 
ed "holy;"  but  considering  the  other,  they 
were  to  be  accounted  "unclean."  Did  the 
character  of  the  former  place  them  ivithin 
the  church  of  God ;  or  the  character  of  the 
latter  without  it  ?  or  did  they  belong  partly 
to  the  church  and  partly  to  the  world,  but 
wholly  to  neither?  The  difficulty  was  a  real 
o  le ;  and  calculated  to  excite  much  distress 
in  the  minds  of  parents  who,  like  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  did  not  treat  the  relation  of 
their  little  ones  to  the  church  of  God,  as  a 
slight  and  uninteresting  afiair. 

Paul  obviates  it  by  telling  his  Corinthian 
friends,  that  in  this  case,  where  the  argument 
for  the  children  appears  to  be  perfectly  bal- 
anced by  the  argument  against  them,  God 
has  graciously  inclined  the  scale  in  favour  of 
his  people :  so  that  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
veying to  their  infants  the  privilege  of  being 
within  his  covenant  and  church,  the  unbe- 
lievhig  husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and 
the  unbelieving  wife  by  the  husband.  If  it 
were  not  so,  it  must  be  the  reverse  ;  because 
it  is  impossible  that  a  child  should  be  born 
in  two  contrary  moral  states:  the7i,  the  be- 
lieving husband  being  rendered  "  unclean" 
by  his  wife;  and  the  believing  wife  "un- 
clean" by  her  husband,  their  children  would 
also  be  "unclean;"  i.  e.  would  be  born,  not 
in  a  state  of  separation  to  God;  but  in  a  state 
of  separation /ro?7i  him;  like  those  who  are 


110  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

without  the  bond  of  his  covenant,  and,  not 
being  appropriated  to  him,  are  "  common," 
or  "unclean."  But  now,  saith  the  apostle, 
God  has  determined  that  the  parental  influ- 
ence shall  go  the  other  way.  That  instead 
of  the  interest  which  a  child  has  in  his  cove- 
nant, by  virtue  of  the  faith  of  one  parent, 
being  made  void  by  the  infidelity  of  the 
other;  the  very  fact  of  being  married  to  a 
believer,  shall  so  far  control  the  effect  of 
unbelief — shall  so  far  consecrate  the  infidel 
party,  as  that  the  children  of  such  a  marriage 
shall  be  accounted  of  the  covenanted  seed; 
shall  be  members  of  the  church — Now,  saith 
Paul,  they  are  holy. 

The  passage  which  we  have  explained, 
establishes  the  church-membership  of  infants 
in  another  form.  For  it  assumes  the  princi- 
ple that  when  both  parents  are  reputed  be- 
lievers, their  children  belong  to  the  church 
of  God  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  whole 
difficulty  proposed  by  the  Corinthians  to  Paul 
grows  out  of  this  principle.  Had  he  taught, 
or  they  understood,  that  no  children,  be  their 
parents  believers  or  unbelievers,  are  to  be 
accounted  members  of  the  church,  the  diffi- 
culty could  not  have  existed.  For  if  the  faith 
of  both  parents  could  not  confer  upon  a  child 
the  privilege  of  membership,  the  faith  of  only 
one  of  them  certainly  could  not.  The  point 
was  decided.  It  would  have  been  mere  im- 
pertinence to  teaze  the  apostle  with  queries 
Avhich  carried  their  own  answer  along  with 
them.     But  on  the  supposition  that  when 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  Ill 

both  parents  were  members,  their  children, 
also,  were  members;  the  difficulty  is  very 
natural  and  serious.  "  I  see,"  would  a  Co- 
rinthian convert  exclaim,  "  I  see  the  children 
of  my  Christian  neighbours,  owned  as  mem- 
bers of  the  church  of  God;  and  I  see  the 
children  of  others,  who  are  unbelievers,  re- 
jected with  themselves.  I  belive  in  Christ 
myself;  but  my  husband,  my  wife  believes 
not.  What  is  to  become  of  my  children? 
are  they  to  be  admitted  with  myself;  or  are 
they  to  be  cast  off  with  my  partner? 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  replies 
the  apostle:  "God  reckons  them  to  the  be- 
Heving,  not  to  the  unbelieving  parent.  It  is 
enough  that  they  are  yours.  The  infidelity 
of  your  partner  shall  never  frustrate  their 
interest  in  the  covenant  of  your  God.  They 
are  "  holy"  because  you  are  so. 

This  decision  put  the  subject  at  rest.  And 
it  lets  us  know  that  one  of  the  reasons,  if  not 
the  chief  reason  of  the  doubt,  whether  a  mar- 
ried person  should  continue,  after  conversion, 
in  the  conjugal  society  of  an  infidel  partner, 
arose  from  a  fear  lest  such  continuance  should 
exclude  the  children  from  the  church  of  God. 
Otherwise  it  is  hard  to  comprehend  why  the 
apostle  should  dissuade  them  from  separating 
by  such  an  argument,  as  he  has  employed  in 
the  text.  And  it  is  utterly  inconceivable  how 
such  a  doubt  could  have  entered  their  minds, 
had  not  the  membership  of  infants,  born  of 
believing  parents,  been  undisputed,  and  es- 
teemed a  high  privilege ;  so  high  a  privilege, 


112  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

as  that  the  apprehension  of  losing  it  made 
conscientious  parents  at  a  stand  whether  they 
ought  not  rather  to  break  the  ties  of  wedlock, 
by  withdrawing  from  an  unbelieving  hus- 
band or  wife.  Thus,  the  origin  of  this  diffi- 
culty on  the  one  hand,  and  the  solution  of  it 
on  the  other,  concur  in  establishing  our  doc- 
trine, that,  by  the  appointment  of  God  him- 
self, the  infants  of  believing  parents  are 
BORN  members  of  his  church. 

We  shall  close  this  number,  already  too 
long,  though  but  an  outline,  with  another  de- 
cision on  the  same  general  question,  from  the 
pen  of  the  same  apostle. 

Treating  of  the  future  restoration  of  the 
Jews  he  says,  "  They  also,  if  they  bide  not 
still  in  unbelief,  shall  be  graffed  in ;  for  God 
is  able  to  graff  them  in  again.  For  if  thou 
wert  cut  out  of  the  olive  tree  which  is  wild 
by  nature;  and  wert  graffed,  contrary  to  na- 
ture, into  a  good  olive  tree;  how  much  more 
shall  these,  which  be  the  natural  branches, 
be  graffed  into  their  own  olive  tree?''  Rom. 
xi.  23,  24. 

That  the  olive  tree  signifies,  and  can  sig- 
nify nothing  else  than  the  visible  church  with 
the  privileges  dispensed  in  it,  we  abundantly 
proved  in  our  second  number.  The  Jews 
never  did  belong,  nationally,  to  any  but  the 
external  church;  and  from  no  other  could 
they  be  cut  off.  But,  saith  Paul,  these 
Jews,  ^Uhe  natural  branches,"  have  been 
"  broken  olf,'^  and  thou  the  Gentile,  "  graff- 
ed in.'^ 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  113 

G  raffed  into  what  ?  The  same  tree  from  which 
the  others  were  cut  away.  Then,  not  only 
is  there  a  visible  church;  but  it  is  the  very 
same  from  which  the  Jews  have  been  excom- 
municated. Or  else  the  apostle  has  asserted 
a  falsehood.  For  if  the  New  Testament 
church  be  not  the  same,  in  substance,  with 
the  church  to  which  the  Jews  belonged,  it  is 
not  true  that  the  Gentiles  have  been  **  graffed 
into  the  olive  tree,"  from  which  the  Jews 
have  been  broken  off;  but  a  new  tree  has 
been  planted:  a  flat  and  formal  contradiction 
to  the  word  of  God,  which  says,  that  the  old 
tree  stands,  and  that  other  branches  are 
graffed  in.  Well,  then,  the  Gentiles  occupy  in 
the  church  the  place  which  the  Jews  did  be- 
fore their  expulsion.  The  new  branch  with 
its  buds  is  transferred  to  the  good  olive  tree, 
and  grows  in  its  fatness.  Whatever  privi- 
leges, therefore,  the  Jews  had  formerly,  as 
members  of  the  Church  of  God,  all  these,  at 
least,  their  Gentile  successors  enjoy.  But 
the  membership  of  their  infants  was  one  of 
these  privileges;  a  principal  one.  Therefore, 
the  children  of  Gentile  believers  are  members 
of  the  Christian  church. 

Turn,  now,  the  argument.  The  Jews  are 
to  be  restored.  These,  the  "  natural  branch- 
es," shall  be  "graffed  in  again" — shall  be 
"graffed into  their  own  olive  tree.''^  Again! 
Into  their  own  olive  tree!  Then  their  own 
tree  is  preserved.  But  mark,  the  Gentile 
branches  are  not  to  be  cut  off.  So  then,  the 
Jews  and  Gentiles  will  belong  to  one  church; 


114  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

will  be  branches  of  the  same  olive  tree.  But 
they  are  to  be  graffed  into  their  own  tree, 
says  Paul.  The  consequence  returns  irre- 
sistibly upon  us.  The  church  of  God  under 
both  dispensations  is  one  and  the  same.  Or 
else  the  apostle  has  told  another  falsehood. 
For  if  it  be  not  the  same,  as  the  Jews  are  to 
come  into  the  Christian  church,  they  will  not 
be  graffed  into  their  own  olive  tree,  but  into 
another. 

But  the  Jews,  before  their  excision,  were, 
with  their  children,  members  of  the  church. 
If,  then,  they  be  reinstated;  or  as  the  apos- 
tle expresses  it,  graffed  in  again,  their  chil- 
dren also  must  be  members  of  the  church, 
or  else  God  will  break  his  promise,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  truth  deceive  their  hope.  The 
restored  Jews,  however,  can  derive  their 
privileges  only  through  the  medium  of  the 
New  Testament  church.  The  membership 
of  their  infants  is  one  of  the  privileges  to  be 
so  derived;  therefore  the  infants  of  believing 
parents  are  members  of  the  New  Testament 
church! — Which  was  to  be  demonstrated. 


ESSAY   VI 


Believing  that  our  preceding  numbers  con- 
tain a  true  and  scriptural  account  of  the  visi- 
ble church  in  general,  we  think  it  proper,  be- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  115 

fore  inquiring  into  its  particular  provisions, 
to  point  out  some  of  the  ends  which  it  is  cal- 
culated to  answer,  and  some  of  the  conse- 
quences which  result  from  our  doctrine. 

Let  us  briefly  recapitulate. 

Adults  who  make  a  credible  profession  of 
their  faith,  are  to  be  admitted  as  members. 

Children  of  believing  parents,  that  is,  of 
visible  Christians,  are  members  in  virtue  of 
their  birth.  So  that  the  Catholic  church 
consists  of  all  them  who,  throughout  the 
world,  profess  the  true  religion;  and  of  their 
children. 

This  great  community,  which  is  but  one, 
has  special  external  covenant-relations  to  the 
Most  High  God;  the  fundamental  principle 
of  which  is,  a  dispensation  of  grace  through 
a  Redeemer;  and,  as  an  effect  of  these  rela- 
tions, enjoys  special  privileges  in  which  her 
members  have  a  right  to  participate  accord- 
ing to  their  circumstances. 

From  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  it  must 
and  does  happen,  that  many  of  these  mem- 
bers are  Christians  only  in  name:  such  as 
never  have  been,  and  never  shall  be,  vitally 
united  to  Christ,  but  shall  die  in  their  iniqui- 
ty. Yet  if  their  unsoundness  be  not  detect- 
ed; if  by  no  outward  act  they  reproach  that 
worthy  name  by  which  they  are  called,  their 
right,  even  to  sacramental  privilege,  is  as 
firm  and  full  as  the  right  of  a  believer  who 
shall  hold  the  highest  place  among  the  saved. 
The  reason,  which  has  been  illustrated  al- 


116  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

ready,  is,  that  Christian  ordinances  are  ad- 
ministered by  men;  and  the  secret  state  of 
the  soul  before  God  is  not  and  cannot  be, 
their  rule  of  judgment.  In  this  case,  appear- 
ances and  realities  are,  to  them,  the  same ; 
because  they  have  no  means  of  forming  an 
opinion  of  realities  but  from  appearances: 
and,  therefore,  officers  in  the  house  of  God 
may,  with  the  most  perfect  good  conscience 
and  fidelity,  give  the  seals  of  his  covenant  to 
such  as  shall  turn  out  to  be  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  perdition.  If  it  were  not  so,  not  one 
among  all  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  since 
the  ascension  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  could  escape 
being  arraigned  for  treason  at  his  bar.  For 
not  one  of  them  would  dare  to  affirm,  that 
he  had  not,  in  a  single  instance,  given  the 
sacramental  sign  to  an  unbeliever. 

Seeing,  then,  that  false  professors  and  true; 
the  sincere  and  the  hypocritical ;  elected  men 
and  reprobates,  are  mingled  together  in  the 
external  church;  and  that  there  are  no  human 
means  of  separating  the  "  chaff  which  shall 
be  burnt  up  with  unquenchable  fire,"  from 
the  "  wheat  which  shall  be  gathered  into  the 
garner"  of  God,  what  purpose  does  such  a 
constitution  serve?  Does  not  the  idea  that 
such  a  strange  commixture  should  be  a  church 
of  God  shock  the  mind?  Is  it  not  unfriendly 
to  piety?  And  would  it  not  be  much  better 
if  saints  alone  were  to  be  admitted  within 
her  pale,  to  the  utter  and  absolute  exclusion 
of  hypocrites  and  reprobates? 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  117 

Doubtless  many  think  so.  For  men  are 
apt  to  conceit  that  they  can  mend  the  works 
of  God.  And  such  multitudes  of  experiments 
have  been  made,  in  this  way,  upon  his  church, 
that  if  he  had  not  been  her  keeper  she  would 
have  perished  ages  ago.  When  he  shall  em- 
ploy us  to  set  up  a  church,  it  will  be  soon 
enough  to  display  our  skill.  In  the  mean 
time,  let  us  thankfully  submit  to  his  appoint- 
ments; and  humbly  inquire  whether  we  can- 
not discover  in  that  very  constitution  which 
has  been  described,  something  not  unworthy 
of  his  wisdom  and  his  goodness  too. 

There  is  a  strong  analogy  between  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  the  heart,  in  the  world, 
and  in  the  church.  Not  one  of  them  is  free 
from  evil:  nor  is  designed  to  be  so  in  the 
present  state.  The  world  teems  with  sin;  it 
is  full  of  plagues  and  curses :  but  it  is  still 
God's  world,  the  subject  of  his  government, 
and  the  theatre  of  his  grace.  The  renewed 
heart  is  infested  with  depravity.  Sin  dwells 
in  them  who  bear  most  of  their  Saviour's 
image,  enjoy  the  largest  share  of  his  commu- 
nion, and  approach  the  nearest  to  his  perfec- 
tion. "  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in 
us."  1  John  i.  8.  But  this  "  sin  that  dwelleth 
in  them,"  does  not  hinder  them  from  being 
in  soul  and  body,  "  the  temples  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  1  Cor.  vi.  19.  It  would  be  quite  as 
reasonable  to  maintain,  that  a  Christian  can- 
not be  a  child  of  God  because  there  is  "  a  law 
in  his  members  warring  against  the  law  of 
II 


118  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

his  mind."  Rom.  vii.  23.  or  that  the  world 
is  not  God's  world  because  "  the  tumult  of 
those  that  rise  up  against  him  increaseth  con- 
tinually;"  Psal.  Ixxiv.  23.  as  to  maintain  that 
a  church  composed  partly  of  converts  and 
partly  of  the  unconverted,  is  not  for  that  rea- 
son a  true  nor  a  scriptural  church.  The  neigh- 
bourhood and  conflict  of  good  and  evil  in 
this  life  is  one  of  those  depths  which  nothing 
but  folly  attempts  to  fathom;  yet  while  the 
mystery  is  unsearchable,  the  doctrine  is  clear, 
and  the  fact  notorious.  Whoever,  then,  shall 
deny  that  God  has  so  constituted  his  church 
here  as  to  include  concealed  enemies  in  the 
midst  of  real  friends ;  and  has  left  no  method 
of  drawing,  with  certainty,  the  line  of  practi- 
cal discrimination ;  must  go  further,  and  deny 
that  he  has  so  constituted  his  world  as  to 
admit  the  introduction  of  sin,  and  has  left  no 
method  of  expelling  it;  or  has  so  constituted 
the  plan  of  salvation,  as  to  allow  corrupt  affec- 
tions to  reside  in  the  hallowed  breast,  and 
has  left  no  method  of  extirpating  them.  The 
objection  is  precisely  the  same  in  the  three 
cases.  He  who  can  answer  it  in  one,  can 
answer  it  in  all;  and  he  who  cannot  answer 
it  in  all,  can  answer  it  in  none. 

On  the  other  hand,  whoever  can  find  it 
consistent  with  the  divine  perfection,  that 
wicked  men  should  be  in  the  world;  and 
wicked  propensities  in  the  soul  of  a  believer, 
and  yet  the  world  be  acknowledged  by  God 
as  his  world,  and  the  believer  as  his  child; 
will  find  it  equally  consistent  with  his  perfec- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  119 

tion  that  servants  of  sin  as  well  as  servants 
of  righteousness  should  belong  to  the  church, 
and  yet  she  be  owned  of  him  as  his  church. 

Nor  will  this  reasoning  operate,  in  the 
smallest  degree,  against  her  sacredness  as  holy 
to  the  Lord;  nor  impair  our  obligation  to  pro- 
mote her  purity ;  nor  afford  the  slightest  coun- 
tenance to  careless  admission  into  her  com- 
munion, or  the  relaxation  of  her  discipline 
toward  the  scandalous.  For  although  God 
will  glorify  himself  by  bringing  good  out  of 
evil,  it  is  damnable  in  us  to  "  do  evil  that  good 
may  come."  Rom.  iii.  8.  And  although  he,  in 
that  sovereignty  which  "giveth  no  account  of 
any  of  his  matters,"  has  permitted  and  over- 
rules the  sin  of  the  creature  for  purposes 
worthy  of  himself;  yet  we  are  not  seated  in 
tlie  throne  of  sovereignty;  we  are  miderlaw; 
and  the  law  of  our  duty  is  plain,  so  that  "he 
may  run  who  readeth,"  that  we  are  to  "resist, 
even  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin."  Heb. 
xii.  8.  It  no  more  follows  that  his  church  is 
not  to  thrust  from  her  embrace  the  known 
servants  of  sin,  because  hei*  vigilance  may  be 
eluded  and  her  efforts  defeated ;  than  it  fol- 
lows that  believers  may  indulge  themselves 
in  the  commission  of  sin,  because  all  their  ex- 
ertions will  be  insufficient  to  destroy  it  while 
they  are  in  the  body;  or  than  it  follows, that 
crimes  are  to  stalk  unquestioned  through  the 
earth,  because  they  cannot  be  entirely  cut 
off.  The  more  closely  this  analogy  is  pressed, 
the  more  exactly  will  it  be  found  to  hold. 
And  hence  arises  the  general  reason  why  the 


120  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

church  of  God,  according  to  our  principles, 
is  well  and  wisely  constituted — It  is  precisely 
adapted  to  the  state  of  our  world,  and  to  the 
course  of  his  own  dispensations. 

The  analogy  which  we  have  now  pointed 
out  might  convince  the  intelligent  Christian, 
and  silence  the  modest  one.  To  the  former 
it  offers  a  decisive  character  of  truth ;  and  the 
latter  will  ask  no  better  argument  for  the 
goodness  of  a  constitution,  than  that  it  is  a 
constitution  of  God.  Bat  we  need  not  rest 
the  matter  here.  Without  prying  into  the 
reservations  of  his  wisdom,  we  may  perceive 
some  valuable  ends  to  be  answered  by  the 
mixed  state  of  his  church. 

1.  It  reduces  the  quantity  of  actual  sin. 

We  cannot  too  deeply  deplore  the  fact  that 
many  "have  a  name  to  live  and  are  dead." 
They  are  numbered  with  the  people  of  God. 
Their  reputation  among  their  fellow  profes- 
sors is  pure.  Yet  they  have  not  "passed 
from  death  unto  life.''  A  terrible  condition, 
no  doubt,  and  a  preparation  for  a  terrible 
doom.  But  let  us  consider  what  would  be 
the  effect  if  all  those  sins  should  be  disclosed 
in  this  world  which  shall  be  disclosed  when 
the  "secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  made 
manifest.''  Or,  if  this  be  too  strong;  what 
would  be  the  effect,  should  those  corruptions 
which  are  not  subdued  by  divine  grace,  be 
set  free  from  the  restraints  supplied  through 
the  external  church.  Could  you  unmask  the 
hypocrite,  and  throw  him  at  once  out  of  your 
fellowship  and  confidence,  all  the  motives  and 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  121 

influence  which  serve  to  curb  his  lusts,  and 
limit  their  mischief,  would  cease  to  operate ; 
and  that  fountain  of  iniquity,  which  is  now 
shut  up  in  darkness  would  break  out  into 
open  day,  and  pour  its  poisonous  streams  in 
every  direction.  It  is  impossible  to  conjec- 
ture how  far  the  law  of  God's  house,  and 
liberal  intercourse  with  his  people,  frustrate 
the  worst  designs  of  hell  by  shncklins^  the 
depravity  of  its  servants.  Some,  perhaps, 
may  contend  that  it  were  better  to  see  every 
bad  man  in  his  own  colours,  that  we  might 
completely  ^^ purge  out  the  old  leaven."  Their 
zeal  is  not  according  to  knowledge.  They 
inadvertently  reproach  the  wisdom  of  God, 
who  does  not  permit  such  a  discovery  to  be 
made.  And  what  would  they  have?  Would 
it  be  better  that  an  enemy  to  God  should  give 
scope  to  his  enmity,  and  spread  infection  and 
death  all  around  him,  than  that  the  repression 
of  it  should  tie  up  his  hands,  and  render  him 
comparatively  harmless?  Would  it  be  better 
that  he  should  blaspheme  the  name  of  God, 
than  that  he  should  treat  it  with  external  rev- 
erence? better,  to  set  before  his  children  or 
companions  an  example  of  hideous  profligacy, 
than  an  example  of  decorum?  to  teach  them 
to  swear,  steal,  lie,  profane  the  Sabbath,  de- 
ride their  Bible,  mock  the  ordinances  of  re- 
hgion,  than  to  inculcate  upon  them  lessons  of 
truth,  of  probity,  of  respect  to  the  name,  the 
day,  the  word,  and  the  worship  of  God?  Go 
a  step  further,  and  say  that  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  lay  aside  all  the  control  of  civil  govern- 


122  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

ment,  and  let  loose  the  myriads  of  rogues  and 
traitors  whom  the  community  unwittingly 
cherishes. in  her  bosom,  than  to  keep  them 
under  the  salutary  awe  of  the  tribunals  of 
justice,  of  the  dungeons  and  the  halter! 

Besides,  men  who  only  profess  reUgion, 
while  they  are  strangers  to  its  power,  have 
much  more  extensive  connexions  with  those 
who  profess  none,  than  real  Christians  can  or 
ought  to  have.  There  is  not  that  mutual 
repugnance  which  renders  society  reserved 
and  suspicious;  and  thus  they  become  a  me- 
dium of  transmitting  the  moral  influence  of 
the  gospel  to  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
who  yield  no  intentional  obedience  to  its  au- 
thority. Real  Christians  act  directly  upon 
professed  ones;  and  these,  again,  upon  men 
who  make  no  profession  at  all:  and  thus, 
through  an  infinite  number  of  channels  unno- 
ticed and  unknown,  Christianity  streams  its 
influence  over  human  society;  gives  a  tone 
to  public  opinion,  and  a  purity  to  public  and 
individual  manners,  which  are  derivable  from 
no  other  source.  The  very  infidel  is  by  this 
means  instructed  in  all  the  truth  he  knows. 
He  has  an  impulse  given  to  his  faculties;  a 
check  to  his  passions;  and  a  rein  to  his  ac- 
tions, of  which  he  is  unconscious.  But  if 
you  could  turn  out  of  the  church  all  who  are 
not  heirs  according  to  the  promise  of  eternal 
life,  you  would,  in  a  great  measure,  defeat 
the  benign  influence  of  the  gospel  upon  the 
civil  community;  because  you  would  destroy 
many  points  of  their  contact,  and  remove 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  123 

thousands  altogether  from  its  sphere  of  action ; 
or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  contract  the 
sphere  so  as  to  leave  out  thousands  who 
are  now  within  it.  Admitting,  then,  without 
scruple,  the  just  cause  of  grief  which  is  afford- 
ed by  the  Canaanite's  being  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  we  are  consoled  with  observing 
how  he  brings  good  out  of  evil.  Satan  thrusts 
himself  and  his  accomplices  into  the  assembly 
of  the  saints ;  and  God  converts  the  intrusion 
into  a  chain  for  them  both.  Thus  the  visible 
church,  composed  of  beUevers  and  hypocrites, 
effects,  by  this  very  principle,  an  incalculable 
diminution  of  the  actual  sin  which  would 
otherwise  be  in  the  world. 

2.  It  diminishes  the  misery  of  human  life. 

This  is  a  direct  consequence  of  prevented 
sin.  For  in  proportion  as  the  laws  of  God 
are  violated,  is  the  aggregate  suffering  of  the 
community  increased:  and  in  proportion  as 
they  are  respected,  is  its  character  amiable, 
and  its  condition  prosperous.  Who  can  doubt, 
even  for  a  moment,  that  the  abandonment  of 
all  nominal  Christians  to  the  unsanctilied 
propensities  of  their  nature,  would  multiply 
crimes  and  accelerate  individual  and  public 
ruin  ?  And  who  can  doubt,  that  the  check 
imposed  on  these  propensities  by  an  outward 
profession  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  averts  ca- 
lamity which  would  otherwise  be  both  cer- 
tain and  severe?  Let  us  not  overlook  the 
immense  difference  between  temporal  and 
eternal  good;  and  between  the  means  by 
which  they  are  respectively  procured.     The 


124  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

religion  which  will  not  save  a  soul  from  hell, 
may  yet  save  a  nation  from  destruction.  It 
is  only  upon  gross  transgression,  freely  and 
obstinately  committed,  that  God  inflicts  those 
evils  which  he  calls  "  his  judgments.''  There 
may  be  much  secret  impiety ;  much  smoth- 
ered opposition  to  his  government,  but  it 
must  break  out;  must  become  flagrant;  must 
resist  the  milder  correctives,  before  he  "  arise 
to  shake  terribly  the  earth."  It  is  for  no 
small  provocation  that  he  "  bathes  his  sword 
in  heaven ;"  nor  is  it  easy  for  a  people  to 
"  fill  their  cup."  He  may  visit;  he  may  chas- 
tise; always,  however,  for  open  sin.  But 
the  cry  for  vengeance  must  be  loud  and  long 
before  he  resign  a  land  to  desolation,  and 
mark  it  so  irreversibly  for  his  curse,  that 
"  though  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  were  in  it, 
they  should  deliver  neither  son  nor  daugh- 
ter;" but  merely  "their  own  souls  by  their 
righteousness ;"  Ezek.  xiv.  and  "  though 
Moses  and  Samuel  stood  before  him,  his 
mind  could  not  be  toward  it."  Jerem.  xv. 
We  are  not  unaccustomed  to  the  clamour 
which  some,  "  who  know  not  what  they  say, 
nor  whereof  they  affirm,"  and  yet  "  desire  to 
be  teachers  of  the  law,"  raise  against  this 
doctrine,  as  calculated  to  feed  the  pride  of 
self-righteousness;  to  spread  Arminianism; 
to  disparage  the  grace  and  merit  of  Christ; 
and  other  things  of  the  same  sort.  But  there 
is  a  pride  which  needs  mortification  as  much 
as  any  other,  although  it  escapes  their  notice ; 
and  that  is,  the  pride  of  conceited  ignorance. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  125 

Little  as  we  incline  to  flatter  vanity,  we  shall 
not  attack  it  upon  principles  which  would 
prostrate  along  with  it  the  righteousness  of 
God  and  cover  the  pages  of  his  blessed  word 
with  contradictions  and  lies.  We  hold  it  to 
be  a  maxim  almost  self-evident,  that  abound- 
ing and  impudent  wickedness  will  bring  more 
wrath,  and  therefore  more  misery,  upon  a 
land,  than  wickedness  shut  up  in  the  bosom, 
or  driven,  by  the  commanding  aspect  of  truth, 
into  secret  corners.  If  our  citizens,  who  are 
perpetually  praising  Christianity,  and  per- 
petually insulting  it,  were  to  yield  a  decent 
deference  to  its  authority — if  our  magistrates, 
instead  of  sacrificing  their  allegiance  to  God, 
whose  ministers  they  are,  Rom.  xiii.  on  the 
altar  of  a  wretched  and  fickle  popularity, 
were  to  become  a  more  steady  and  uniform 
"  terror  to  evil  doers,"  the  storm  which  black- 
ens over  our  trembling  country  would  be  dis- 
sipated; and  the  smiling  skies  invite  every 
man  to  resume  his  seat  '^  under  his  vine  and 
under  his  fig-tree.'^ 

The  preventing  of  sin,  then,  being  a  pre- 
vention of  misery,  the  world  owes  much  of 
its  freedom  from  misery  to  the  influence  of 
the  visible  Church,  constituted  as  it  is,  in 
restraining  sin — more,  much  more,  than  it 
would  owe  to  such  a  constitution  as  would 
exclude  all  nominal  Christians;  the  number 
of  them  who  are  not  reconciled  to  God  by 
the  death  of  his  son,  remaining  the  same. 
We  say  the  number  of  unconverted  remain- 
ing the  same.  For  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that 
12 


126  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

as  two  real  Christians  are  better  and  more 
useful  than  one  real  and  one  apparent  Chris- 
tian; so  the  two  latter  are  much  better  and 
more  useful  than  one  real  Christian,  and  one 
openly  wicked  man.  And  as,  for  the  same 
reason,  it  would  be  infinitely  more  desirable, 
that  the  whole  world  should  be  in  the  Church, 
and  the  whole  Church  converted,  than  that 
there  should  be  a  mixture  of  a  clean  and  un- 
clean in  her  communion;  so  it  is  infinitely 
more  desirable,  and  more  conducive  to  peace 
and  happmess,  that,  while  this  purity  is  unat- 
tainable, the  appearance  of  godliness  in  those 
who  have  none,  should  encourage  the  hearts 
and  strengthen  the  hands  of  those  who  have 
it ;  and  thus  hypocrisy  concur  with  sincerity 
in  causing  "  iniquity,  as  ashamed,  to  hide  her 
head." 

There  is  another  view  of  this  point  which 
comes  home  to  the  heart.  To  that  question, 
"Why  must  believers  die?"  The  following 
answer,  among  others,  has  been  returned.  If 
believers  were  exempted  from  the  common 
mortality;  if,  like  Enoch  and  Elijah,  they 
should  go  to  heaven  without  "putting  off 
their  tabernacle,"  then  death  would  reveal 
the  secrets  of  the  eternal  world.  It  would 
be  known  by  the  very  manner  of  his  depart- 
ing hence,  whether  an  individual  was  saved 
or  lost.  What  anguish,  what  horror,  what 
distraction,  would  fill  the  souls  and  the  fami- 
lies of  God's  dear  children ;  to  be  assured,  by 
the  simple  fact  of  a  friend  or  kinsman's  dying, 
that  he  was  gone  to  hell !   But  would  not  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  127 

very  same  effect  be  produced,  were  all  unbe- 
lievers shut  out  of  the  Church?  The  mere 
circumstance  of  their  exclusion  would  prove 
their  unbelief;  and  their  death  in  unbelief, 
would  prove  that  they  had  perished.  The 
tender  mercies  of  God  relieve  his  people  from 
an  intolerable  load  of  suffering,  by  subject- 
ing them,  in  common  with  others,  to  the  de- 
cree of  death.  And  that  constitution  of  his 
visible  Church,  which,  by  admitting  members 
upon  external  evidence,  admits  hypocrites  as 
well  as  the  sincere,  is  a  necessary  counterpart 
to  the  law  of  death.  Visible  departure  from 
the  world,  whether  into  his  Church  or  into 
eternity,  lies  through  an  entrance  which  God 
has  so  constructed,  that,  any  further  than  a 
judgment  may  be  formed  from  external  evi- 
dence, he  alone  ''knoweth  them  that  are  his.'^ 
Both  are  provisions  of  one  gracious  system. 
They,  therefore,  who  would  so  model  the 
Christian  Church  as  to  keep  or  to  expel  from 
her  conmiunion,  all  ungodly  men  who  do  not 
show  themselves  to  be  such  by  their  ungodly 
principles  or  deeds,  are  labouring  to  defeat 
the  mercy  displayed  in  the  death  of  a  believer, 
and  to  wring  his  heart  with  agony  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  life.  Eternal  thanks  to 
the  divine  compassions,  they  cannot  suc- 
ceed! The  counsel  of  the  Lord  is  against 
them;  and  "the  counsel  of  the  Lord,  that 
shall  stand." 

3.  The  mixed  character  of  the  Church  con- 
tributes directly  to  her  prosperity.     It  does 


128  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

By  extending  her  resources : 

By  increasing  her  numbers : 

By  affording  protection. 

First,  The  resources  of  the  Church,  we 
mean  her  outward  resources,  are  extended 
by  her  present  constitution.  These, in  general, 
are  pecuniary  aid,  and  the  aid  of  talents. 

It  is  evident,  that  all  those  means  by  which 
the  gospel  is  supported  and  propagated,  are 
not  furnished  by  real  Christians;  and  equally 
evident  that  the  whole  supply  is  very  scanty. 
If  you  should  deduct  the  part  which  comes 
from  the  pockets  of  unconverted  men,  the 
balance  would  not  preserve  Christianity  from 
being  starved  out  of  the  world.  Indeed  from 
the  wretched  provision  which  is  commonly 
made  for  her  maintenance,  one  might  con- 
clude, with  little  offence  against  charity,  that 
the  great  majority  of  professed  Christians,  are 
not  unwilUng  to  try  how  far  this  experiment 
of  starving  may  prove  successful.  That  is 
their  sin,  and  it  shall  be  their  punishment. 
Let  them  think  of  it  in  those  moments  when 
they  recollect  that  they  are  as  accountable 
for  the  use  of  their  property,  as  for  the  use  of 
their  liberty :  and  that  there  is  to  be  a  day  of 
reckoning,  in  which  no  robbers  shall  appear 
to  less  advantage,  or  be  treated  with  less  in- 
dulgence, than  those,  who,  in  this  life,  have 
"  robbed  God.'^  Mai.  iii.  3.  9. 

But  small  as  the  encouragement  is  for  any, 
who  by  following  another  honest  caUing,  can 
procure  a  tolerable  livelihood,  and  lay  up 
even   a  little  for   their  families,  to   devote 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  129 

themselves  to  the  religious  welfare  of  society, 
it  would  be  much  smaller  were  none  to  be 
accounted  Christians  here,  who  shall  not  be 
accounted  such  hereafter.  Go,  with  the 
power  of  detecting  hypocrisy;  cast  out  of 
the  Church,  all  whose  fellowship  is  not  "with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.'' 
And  your  jiext  step  must  be  to  nail  up  the 
doors  of  our  places  of  worship.  We  are  in 
tlie  habit  of  praying  that  the  Lord,  who  has 
declared  that  "  the  silver  is  his,  and  the  gold 
is  his,"  would  influence  the  hearts  of  the  opu- 
lent to  bring  their  offerings  into  his  courts: 
we  thank  him,  when,  in  a  manner  somewhat 
uncommon,  he  hears  our  prayers  and  sends 
the  bounty;  and  yet  we  overlook  the  daily 
occurrence  of  this  very  thing  which  is  the 
object  of  our  petitions  and  of  our  gratitude! 
He  has  incorporated  the  principle  in  the 
frame  of  his  visible  church,  and  it  operates 
with  regular,  though  silent,  efficacy.  But  if 
all  who  appear  to  be  Christians,  and  are  not, 
were  excluded,  the  effect  must  be  to  dimin- 
ish, in  a  most  distressing  degree,  the  actual 
pecuniary  resources  of  the  church.  For  men 
who  are  marked  as  enemies,  will  never  lend 
her  the  same  aid  as  men  who  are  supposed 
to  be  friends.  And  thus  the  absohite  purifi- 
cation of  the  church  upon  earth,  would  over- 
throw the  plan  which  the  wisdom  of  God 
has  devised,  to  cause  his  very  foes  to  assess 
their  own  purses  in  carrying  on  that  dispen- 
sation of  grace  which,  at  lieart,  they  do  ziot 


13^0  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

love ;  and  which,  if  left  to  themselves,  they 
would  resist  with  all  their  might. 

The  same  reasoning  applies  to  talent. 

Revelation  is  never  more  completely  robed 
in  light,  than  when  she  is  brought  fairly  and 
fully  to  the  bar  of  evidence.  The  attacks  of 
infidels  have  furnished  her  friends  with  both 
opportunities  and  incitements  to  dispel  the 
mist  by  which  she  has  been  occasionally  or 
partially  obscured;  and  she  has  gone  forth 
"  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  ter- 
rible as  an  army  with  banners.'' 

What  is  true  of  Christianity  in  general,  is 
equally  true  of  its  peculiar  doctrines.  The 
more  rigidly  they  are  examined,  the  more 
worthy  do  they  appear  of  God;  the  more 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  condition  of  man; 
the  more  consistent  with  each  other,  with 
the  lights  of  pure  philosophy,  and  the  dis- 
coveries of  real  science. 

But  these  results  which  have  shed,  and 
are  shedding  their  lustre  upon  the  evangeli- 
cal system,  combine  the  researches  of  the 
ablest  men  in  the  most  hterary  periods  of  the 
world.  There  is  no  department  of  human 
knowledge  which  God  has  not  laid  under  tri- 
bute to  his  word.  Linguists,  mathematicians, 
astronomers,  botanists,  mineralogists;  chy- 
mistrt',  physiology,  and  medicine ;  the  anti- 
quarian, the  traveller,  the  natural,  civil,  and 
ecclesiastical  historian;  commerce,  agricul- 
ture, mechanics,  and  the  fine  arts — are  all  to 
be  found  waiting  at  the  temple  of  God,  open- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  131 

ing  their  treasures,  and  presenting  their  gifts. 
Whoever  has   the   least  acquaintance  with 
things  older  than  himself,  and  without  the 
petty  circle  of  his  personal  agency,  knows 
that  the  mass  of  all  valuable  learning,  since 
the   introduction   of   Christianity,  ever   has 
been,  and  is  yet,  in  the  hands  of  professed 
Christians.     They  have  employed  it  in  her 
defence,  to  an  extent  and  with  an  effect  of 
which  thousands,  who  are  now  reaping  the 
benefits  of  their  efforts,  can  have  no  possi- 
ble conception.     Yet,  certainly,  among  those 
who  have  thus  fortified  the  citadel  of  truth, 
many  were  believers  in  name  only,  and  never 
tasted  the  salvation  to  the  influence  of  which 
they  contributed.    "  How  much  better,"  you 
will  exclaim,  "  had  they  loved  the  Redeemer 
not  in  name  only, but  in  deed  and  in  truth!" 
How  much  better  indeed !     But  how  much 
worse,  we  rejoin,  had  they  sided  with  his 
open  enemies,  and  levelled  against  his  word, 
all  that  artillery  which  they  employed /r)r  it. 
And  that  such  would  have  been  the  conse- 
quence  had   none   been   admitted   into   his 
church  who  were  not  partakers  of  his  grace, 
is  as  evident,  as  that  a  cause,  left  to  its  own 
operation,  will  produce  its  proper  effect.   We 
are  well  apprised  of  the  contempt  which  some 
men  affect  to  heap  upon  human  learning. 
And  we  are  equally  well  apprised  that  in  this 
their  hostility,  their  ignorance  and  vain  glory 
have  at  least  as  large  a  share  as  their  spiritu- 
ality of  mind.     Nor  are  we  regardless  of  the 
mischief  which  "unsanctified  learning"  has 


132  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

done  in  the  church  of  God;  and  of  the  jeal- 
ousy with  which,  on  that  account,  many  seri- 
ous people   look  upon  learned  men.     But 
why?     Shall  we  never  distinguish  between 
use  and  abuse?     Learning  is  good  in  itself. 
The  evil  lies  not  in  its  nature,  but  in  its  ap- 
plication.    Because   some  have  prostituted 
their  learning  to  pervert  the  truth  and  insti- 
tutions of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  shall  we 
not  accept  the  aid  of  the  same  weapon,  right- 
fully used,  to  vindicate  them  ?    Shall  we  com- 
mit them  to  the  illiterate  and  the  stupid,  in 
expectation  of  miracles  to  elicit  wisdom  from 
the   mouth  of  folly,  and  bribe  letters   and 
genius  to  enlist  themselves  in  the  service  of 
the  devil }     The  very  same  objection  strikes 
at  wealth,  at  strength;  at  every  power,  moral 
and  physical,  which  Gocl  has  seen  fit  to  cre- 
ate.    Because  "  unsanctified"  opulence  has 
spread  corruption  through  Christian  commu- 
nities, is  it  desirable  that  all  Christians  be 
beggars?     Because  strong  men,  if  they  be 
of  quarrelsome  temper,  may  keep  a  whole 
neighbourhood  under  the  terrrors  of  assault 
and  battery,  would  it  therefore  be  desirable 
that  all  Christians  should  be  pigmies?      It  is 
the  nature  of  every  thing  to  work  harm  when 
misdirected,  in  exact  proportion  to  its  power 
of  working  good  when  directed  well.     This 
is  a  law  of  God's  own  enacting;  and  is  one 
of  the  means  by  which  he  makes  sin  to  pun- 
ish itself    Therefore,  to  reject  a  potent  agen- 
cy because  its  perversion  will  involve  calam- 
ity proportioned  to  its  vigour,  is  the  very 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  133 

rectified  spirit  of  absurdity.  Carry  your  prin- 
ciple through;  and  tell  your  Maker  that  he 
did  a  foolish  thing  in  creating  angels,  because 
such  of  them  as,  by  their  fall,  have  become 
devils,  can  do  infinitely  more  mischief  than 
if  they  had  been  men!  No — Let  us  put 
away  these  childish  things.  If  unconverted 
men  get  into  the  church  under  the  cloak  of 
a  credible  profession;  if  they  remain  there 
undetected ;  if  they  bring  their  wealth  and 
their  talent  to  the  support  of  the  Christian 
cause,  let  us  accept  the  boon  with  all  thank- 
fulness. It  is  so  much  of  the  arm  of  iniquity 
palsied ;  nay,  more,  it  is  so  much  clear  gain 
from  the  interests  of  hell  to  the  comfort  of 
the  church  of  God.  If  the  gospel  is  to  be 
maintained,  or  a  starving  disciple  to  be  fed, 
it  will  make  no  difference  in  the  market 
whether  the  dollar  was  given  by  a  hypocrite 
or  a  believer.  And  if  the  Bible  be  happily 
illustrated  ;  or  its  adversaries  victoriously  en- 
countered, the  truth  is  still  the  same,  whether 
the  talent  which  demonstrates  it  be  connected 
with  the  spirit  of  faith  or  the  heart  of  unbe- 
lief. The  excess  of  these  two  benefits  over 
and  above  what  could  be  performed  by  Chris- 
tians alone,  is  the  advantage,  in  point  of  re- 
source^ which  the  church  derives  from  her 
present  constitution,  over  and  above  that 
which  she  would  enjoy  were  none  to  enter 
into  her  communion  but  true  converts. 


134  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

ESSAY  VII. 


The  seco7id\ya.Y  in  which  the  mixed  charac- 
ter of  the  visible  church  contributes  directly 
to  her  prosperity,  is  by  increasbig  her  num- 
bers. 

The  gospel  is  the  great  means  of  turning 
men  "  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God."  For  this  pur- 
pose it  is  necessary  that  they  and  it  should 
meet.  "  How  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom 
they  have  not  believed  ?  And  how  shall  they 
believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ? 
And  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preach- 
er?" Rom.  X.  14.  Whatever  brings  sinners 
within  the  reach  of  the  means  of  salvation, 
and  places  them  under  the  "joyful  sound," 
puts  them  into  the  way  in  which  alone  they 
have  a  right  to  expect  the  pardoning  and  the 
renewing  mercy  of  their  God.  Let  it,  then, 
be  considered,  how  many  members  of  the 
external  church  have  remained  for  years  in 
their  habit  of  decent  but  unprofitable  attend- 
ance upon  the  public  worship  of  God,  and 
have  at  last  been  arrested  by  his  grace,  and 
made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal 
life. 

"Their  number,"  it  may  be  objected,  "is 
smaller  than  we  suppose  ;  and  forms  too  in- 
considerable a  portion  of  the  saved  to  have 
any  weight  in  the  argument."  We  believe 
this,  upon  the  whole,  to  be  true.     It  was 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  135 

long  ago  ol)seTved,  and  the  observation  ought 
to  sink  down  into  the  hearts  of  both  the 
old  and  young  professor,  that  where  the 
gospel  is  enjoyed  in  its  purity,  it  is  the  or- 
dinary method  of  providence  to  call  sinners 
into  the  fellowship  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
days  of  their  youth.  Among  those  who 
have  enjoyed  from  their  childhood  the  benefit 
of  religious  instruction,  of  holy  example,  of 
sound  and  faithful  ministrations,  the  instances 
•of  conversion  after  middle  life,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  extremely  rare.  Let  the  aged 
Christian  run  over,  in  his  mind,  such  of  these 
instances  as  have  come  within  his  own  know- 
ledge, and  we  shall  be  much  deceived  if  his 
Hst  be  not  very  short.  Yet  small  as  is  their 
relative  number,  their  amount,  absolutely 
taken,  is  not  contemptible.  But  had  a  power 
of  judging  the  state  of  the  soul  before  God, 
from  other  than  external  evidence,  been  the 
rule  of  admission  into  his  church,  who  can 
doubt  that  the  rejection  of  these  members 
would  have  banished  the  most  of  them  from 
his  sanctuary  altogether,  and  left  them  to 
perish  in  their  iniquity  ?  It  is  vain  to  reply 
that  "  the  Lord  knoiceth  them  that  are  his, 
and  will  take  care  that  none  of  them  be  lost." 
He  does  know  them :  he  will  take  care  that 
none  of  them  be  lost ;  but  he  will  reveal  his 
knowledge  and  exercise  his  care  by  the  in- 
tervention of  means:  and  the  admission  of 
members  into  his  church  upon  external  evi- 
dence only,  appears,  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  and  is  proved  by  the  event,  to  be  one 
of  his  means. 


136  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

The  operation,  however,  of  this  cause  of 
her  increase,  is  not  confined  to  the  persons  of 
late  converts:  nor  would  our  argument  be 
much  affected,  were  they  still  fewer,  or  were 
there  none  at  all.  Thousands,  who  have  the 
form  of  godliness  loithout  the  poiver,  and 
who  die  as  they  live,  in  the  gall  of  bitter- 
ness  and  the  bond  of  iniquity,  are  heads  of 
families.  By  their  authority  and  example, 
children,  apprentices,  servants,  who,  other- 
wise, would  rove  unrestrained  like  the  ivild 
ass's  colt,  are  kept  from  much  gross  and 
open  wickedness:  they  learn  to  respect  the 
Sabbath  day;  they  come  under  Christian 
instruction;  they  attend  the  institutions  of 
public  worship ;  to  multitudes  of  them  God 
blesses  his  own  ordinances  for  their  eternal 
Ufe.  And  thus,  while  the  parent  or  the  mas- 
ter dies  in  his  sin,  the  child,  the  apprentice, 
or  the  servant,  led  by  his  own  hand  to  the 
religious  precept  and  the  house  of  prayer, 
becomes  an  heir  of  God,  and  a  felloio  heir 
with  Christ  in  glory.  Nay,  individuals 
without  families,  are  often  the  unconscious 
instruments  of  salvation  to  others.  No  hu- 
man being  is  so  poor  as  not  to  have  an  ac- 
quaintance. We  know  it  to  be  a  principle  in 
human  nature,  that  men  love  to  draw  their 
friends  into  connexions  with  which  they 
themselves  are  pleased.  It  is  a  necessary 
effect  of  man's  social  character;  and  is  no 
where  more  regular  and  extensive  than  in. 
his  religious  associations.  Many  causes  be- 
side, and  without,  conversion  from  sin  to  God, 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  137 

render  men  zealous  in  promoting  the  credit 
and  prosperity  of  their  respective  churches. 
The  prejudice  of  birth,  the  force  of  habit,  the 
preference  of  judgment,  attachment  to  a  par- 
ticular minister  or  circle  of  friends,  engage 
much  warm  and  active  patronage  to  ecclesi- 
astical bodies.  One  companion  brings  an- 
other; that  one  a  third;  and  thus,  by  a  most 
comphcated  system  of  individual  action  and 
re-action,  great  multitudes  are  assembled  in 
the  house  of  God,  who  otherwise  would 
never  cross  its  threshold.  Sometimes  a  per- 
son, induced  by  the  persuasion  of  another  to 
hear  a  certain  preacher,  or  occupy  a  seat  in 
a  certain  church,  has  been  awakened  to  a 
sense  of  eternal  things ;  has  been  "  translated 
into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son;"  and 
"sealed  up  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  unto 
the  day  of  redemption,"  when  his  persuader 
has  remained  unmoved,  or  even  thrown  away 
his  profession,  and  turned  an  open  reprobate. 
Withdraw,  then,  all  the  families  of  nomi- 
nal Christians,  and  all  their  acquaintances 
whom  they  allure  to  the  public  ordinances — 
withdraw  the  acquaintances  of  single  men 
and  women,  especially  those  in  younger  life, 
and  after  you  have  made  the  deduction,  look 
at  your  places  of  worship !  Whole  rows  of 
seats  which  were  filled  with  persons  of  de- 
cent, respectful,  and  even  serious  deportment, 
are  empty.  The  greater  part  of  those  from 
whom  converts  were  to  be  drawn  to  replace 
dying  believers,  and  perpetuate  the  know- 
ledge of  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  is  gone. 


138  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

The  church  has  lost  one  of  her  chief  holds 
upon  the  world:  she  has  closed  up  a  wide 
door  of  her  own  access  to  unbelievers;  and 
has  actually  banished  them,  by  hundreds, 
from  the  mercy-seat. 

There  is  an  exception  to  this  reasoning  too 
obvious  and  plausible  to  pass,  unnoticed. 

"  Facts  appear  to  be  against  us.  Who  com- 
posed the  audiences  of  the  apostles?  Who 
flocked  to  the  sound  of  the  evangehcal  trum- 
pet, at  the  blessed  reformation  from  popery? 
What  is,  at  this  day,  the  most  successful 
method  of  crowding  the  churches,  even  with 
those  who  do  not  so  much  as  profess  to  be 
religious  ?  Is  it  not  the  plain  and  undisguised 
declaration  of  that  very  gospel  which,  it  is 
said,  the  people  will  not  hear  without  the 
help  of  hypocrites  to  bring  them.  If  you 
want  to  empty  a  place  of  worship,  court  your 
Christians  in  name  only;  let  nothing  be  done 
to  shock  their  prejudices  or  alarm  their  pride. 
If  you  want  to  fill  a  place  of  worship  know 
nothing  in  your  ministrations  but  Jesus 
Christ,  and  hi^n  crucified.''^ 

A  mistake  is  never  so  imposing,  as  when  it 
misapplies  undoubted  truths.  We  admit  all 
the  facts  here  stated,  but  cannot  see  how 
they  invalidate  our  reasoning;  because  they 
have  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
so  conducted  as  not  to  exclude  the  secret  de- 
ceiver. Her  character  has  always  been  mixed. 
The  pretensions  of  some  men  to  purify  her 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  admit  only  genuine 
converts,  are  vanity  and  wind.     They  never 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  139 

did,  they  never  can ;  it  is  impossible,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  they  ever  should  act  upon 
other  than  external  evidence,  if  they  act  upon 
evidence  at  all.  Could  a  method  be  devised 
of  distinguishing  the  real  from  the  apparent 
Christian,  not  only  would  it  cease  to  be  the 
Lord's  prerogative  "  to  know  them  that  are 
his;''  but  the  whole  complexion  and  charac- 
ter of  his  Chm'ch  would  be  altered.  She 
would  be  another  Church  altogether  from 
U)hat  he  has  made  her.  And  since  he  has 
adapted  the  tenor  of  his  providence,  and  the 
influences  of  his  grace,  to  her  actual  consti- 
tution, it  is  idle  to  imagine  that  the  course 
of  events  which  is  connected  with  her  present 
constitution,  would  attend  her  under  a  con- 
stitution essentially  different.  The  Church 
framed  as  some  good  men  would  have  her, 
not  only  never  existed,  but,  for  aught  they 
can  show,  would  be  utterly  unfit  for  this 
world  of  ours;  and  would  utterly  fail  of  ac- 
complishing her  ends.  Nor  can  they  assign 
any  tolerable  reason  for  a  belief  that  of  all 
the  eff'ects  which  now  flow  from  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  gospel,  a  single  one  would 
be  produced  upon  a  change  of  the  system. 

An  advantage,  therefore,  and  not  a  small 
one,  of  the  mixed  condition  of  the  Church  is, 
that  it  collects  within  her  pale,  and  introduces 
to  her  ordinances,  multitudes  who  otherwise 
would  remain  "  without,"  but,  now  "  shall 
be  heirs  of  salvation." 

A  third  benefit  directly  arising  from  the 
mixed  condition  of  the  Church,  is  protection. 


140  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

In  times  of  affliction,  the  witnesses  for  truth 
are  often  more,  and  in  the  times  of  prosperity- 
fewer,  than  they  are  supposed  to  be.  Could 
the  line  be  accurately  drawn  between  sound 
and  unsound  professors,  the  former  would 
frequently  find  themselves  in  a  very  small 
minority.  Such  a  disclosure  would  not  only 
dispirit  their  minds  and  repress  their  exer- 
tions, but  subject  them  to  taunt,  to  insult,  and 
to  oppression.  We  must  bear  in  remem- 
brance that  the  "world  which  lieth  in  wick- 
edness," never  wants  the  inclination  to  per- 
secute them  who  are  "chosen  out  of  it.'^ 
The  computed  number  of  Christians  serves 
to  check  that  inclination;  and  it  is  often 
checked  so  effectually  that  its  existence  is 
denied ;  and  Christians  themselves  are  half 
persuaded,  that  the  world  is  less  hostile  to 
them  and  their  master  than  in  the  days  of 
primitive  peril.  But  could  they  be  distinctly 
pointed  out,  this  erring  charity  of  theirs  would 
get  its  rebuke  in  their  ruin.  The  fire  would 
feed  upon  their  flesh,  and  scaftblds  stream 
with  their  blood,  at  the  instance,  and  by  the 
agency,  of  many  who  now  treat  them  with 
civility  and  respect.  Set  them  up  as  a  mark, 
by  exposing  their  weakness,  and  nothing 
short  of  a  perpetual  miracle  would  hinder 
"the  men  of  the  earth"  from  exterminating 
them  at  a  stroke,  and,  Avith  them,  the  church 
of  the  living  God. 

But  as  the  case  stands,  his  overruling  provi- 
dence uses  the  nominal,  for  a  shield  to  the 
real.  Christian.     Apparent  believers  occupy 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  141 

a  middle  ground  between  the  church  of  the 
redeemed  and  the  world  which  knows  not 
God.  Belonging  in  pretence  to  the  one,  and 
in  fact  to  the  other,  they  interpose  a  medium 
between  the  two,  which  often  prevents  a  de- 
structive contact.  The  malice  of  the  perse- 
cutor sleeps,  and  his  arm  is  idle,  from  the 
difficulty  of  selecting  his  victim  and  pointing 
his  blow.  Were  he  to  strike  at  random,  he 
would  smite  those  whom  he  wishes  to  spare, 
and  miss  those  whom  he  wishes  to  smite. 
Thus  there  is  a  secret,  and  silent,  but  real 
and  effective,  alliance  between  unconverted 
men  in  the  Church,  and  out  of  it,  which  the 
controlling  hand  of  God  makes  to  subserve 
the  safety  and  comfort  of  his  own  people. 

Such  are  some  of  the  ends,  "holy,  just,  and 
good,"  which  we,  circumscribed  as  is  our 
knowledge  of  the  ways  of  God,  can  perceive 
to  be  accomplished  by  the  mixed  condition 
of  his  Church.  That  there  are  no  others 
most  worthy  of  his  wisdom,  though  infinitely 
above  the  reach  of  ours,  nothing  but  inebri- 
ating folly  will  dare  to  pronounce.  What 
ultimate  relations  his  Church  may  have  to 
his  universal  kingdom,  it  were  impertinent, 
if  not  profane,  so  much  as  to  conjecture. 
Suffice  it,  that  while  every  step  of  our  pro- 
gress enjoins  sobriety  of  thought;  restrains 
the  indiscretion  of  zeal ;  and  rebukes  the 
spirit  of  intrusive  ignorance  ;  enough  is  dis- 
covered to  remove  the  modest  scruple,  and 
satisfy  the  reverential  inquiry. 

In  a  preceding  part  of  this  discussion,  we 
13 


142  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

contracted  an  engagement  which  we  shall 
here  fulfil. 

To  our  doctrine  which  unequivocally  ad- 
mits that  the  visible  church  is  so  constituted 
as  to  contain  a  mixture  of  good  men  and 
bad,  without  any  means  of  distinguishing, 
precisely,  the  one  from  the  other;  and  which 
maintains  that  the  infants  of  parents,  or  a 
parent,  professing  godliness,  are,  by  the  fact 
of  their  birth,  members  of  the  Church,  and 
intitled  to  the  sacramental  seal  of  their  rela- 
tion, it  is  objected,  that  "we  debase  and 
prostitute  the  sacraments;  that  we  necessarily 
give  the  seal  of  spiritual  blessings  to  multi- 
tudes who  have  not  and  never  shall  have, 
"any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
and  of  God" — that  by  such  an  application  we 
not  only  put  a  seal  to  a  blank,  which  is  mere 
mockery ;  but  call  upon  the  God  of  truth  to 
certify  a  lie,  which  is  yet  worse  than  mockery 
— that  it  is  peculiarly  absurd  to  administer  to 
infants  an  ordinance  coupled  by  the  scriptures 
with  faith  in  Christ,  which  infants  are  confes- 
sedly incapable  of  exercising." 

This  is  specious,  and  well  calculated  to 
gain  the  popular  ear.  In  reasoning,  as  in 
other  things,  it  is  commonly  much  easier  to 
get  into  a  difficulty  than  to  get  out  of  it. 
Objections  to  any  fixed  order  are  always  at 
hand,  because  its  operation  is  always  felt : 
but  answers  to  those  objections  are  not  so 
ready,  because  the  reasons  of  the  order  cease 
to  be  observed,  as  time  is  always  removing 
them  further  from  our  knowledge.     On  this 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  143 

account  it  frequently  requires  more  sense  and 
search  to  refute  one  cavil,  than  to  propose 
twenty.  From  the  same  cause  minds  which 
feel  the  force  of  the  cavil,  are,  in  thousands 
of  instances,  unable  to  comprehend  the  refu- 
tation, even  though  it  be  mathematically 
correct.  Hence  shrewd  but  petty  sophism, 
and  warm  but  cloudy  declamation,  against 
the  visible  church,  make  a  quick  impression, 
and  exert  a  lasting  influence,  upon  the  weak, 
the  illiterate,  and  the  vain ;  while  the  reply 
to  them  can  hardly  hope  to  succeed,  except 
among  those  who  are  capable  of  thinking ; 
and  among  whom  their  progress  is  small, 
their  proselytes  few,  and  their  dominion  tot- 
tering. 

In  the  present  case,  there  appears  to  have 
been,  and  to  be,  a  peculiar  infatuation.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  over  and  over,  that 
the  common,  which  are  the  strongest,  objec- 
tions to  the  doctrine  of  a  visible  Church 
Catholic,  in  so  far  at  least,  as  it  embraces  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  apply  with 
equal  force  to  the  system  of  their  advocates ; 
to  an  appointment  unquestionably  divine ; 
and  to  the  scriptural  declarations  concerning 
eternal  life. 

1.  To  the  system  of  their  advocates. 

For  if  the  baptizing  of  infants  who  possibly 
may  not,  and,  in  many  instances,  certainly 
do  not,  prove  to  be  true  Christians,  is  charge- 
able with  nulHty  and  mockery;  then  tlie 
baptizing  of  adults  who  possibly  may  not, 
and,   in   many  instances,  certainly  do   not, 


144  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

prove  to  be  true  Christians,  is  equally  a 
nullity  and  a  mockery.  And  therefore, 
unless  we  can  know  who  shall  be  the  heirs 
of  salvation,  and  restrict  the  sacraments  ac- 
cordingly, their  administration  must  always 
be  involved  in  the  charge  of  nullity  and 
mockery.  The  opponents  of  infant  baptism 
are  so  pinched  by  this  retortion  of  their  argu- 
ment, that  they  endeavour  to  disembarrass 
themselves  by  adopting  the  reality  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  that  is,  the  discovery  of  a 
man's  gracious  state,  as  their  principle  of 
admission  to  the  sacramental  privilege.  The 
subterfuge  will  not  avail  them.  They  must 
found  their  discovery  either  on  special  reve- 
lation, or  upon  other  evidence.  To  the  former 
they  cannot  pretend ;  and  the  latter  they  must 
derive  from  one  of  two  sources :  either  the 
fruits  of  grace  in  a  man's  life,  which  must  be 
certified  by  others,  and  are  external  evidence; 
or  the  account  which  he  himself  gives  of  his 
own  conversion.  This  to  himself  is  internal, 
but  the  moment  he  mentions  it  to  others,  it 
becomes  testimony,  and  like  the  former,  it  is 
external  evidence. 

Is,  then,  the  judgment  of  his  examiners  lia- 
ble to  mistake  ?  If  not,  how  did  they  become 
infallible  ?  And,  as  the  reality  of  a  gracious 
state  is  the  reason  of  their  admitting  a  man 
into  their  communion,  it  must  for  ever  remain 
a  sufficient  reason  for  retaining  him :  for 
those  with  whom  we  now  contend,  hold  the 
doctrine  of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints. 
How,  then,  can  they  ever  justify  the  exclu- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  145 

sion  of  any  of  their  members?  For  as  the 
possession  of  grace  is  the  ground  of  his  ad- 
mission, nothing  but  the  want  of  it  can  be  a 
ground  of  his  expulsion.  Thus,  in  every  case 
of  excommunication,  they  stand  self-convict- 
ed of  having  mistaken  a  man's  character 
either  when  they  took  him  in,  or  when  they 
cast  him  out.  From  this  alternative  they 
have  no  escape  but  an  acknowledgment  that 
they  were  either  faithless  in  the  first  instance, 
or  tyrannical  in  the  second.  In  so  far,  there- 
fore, as  they  have  ever  had  in  their  commu- 
nion, members,  who,  "  when  weighed  in  the 
balances,  were  found  wanting,"  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  perceive  that  they  are  in  the  very 
same  predicament  with  those  whom  they  re- 
proach as  lax  and  carnal;  that  in  the  same 
proportion  their  own  sacraments  are  nullities 
and  mockeries;  and  that  their  blow  at  the 
advocates  of  the  one  visible  church,  recoils, 
with  all  its  force,  upon  their  own  heads. 

2.  Their  objections  to  our  doctrine  are 
equally  conclusive  against  an  appointment 
unquestionably  divine:  we  mean  the  ordi- 
nance of  circumcision. 

We  must  repeat,  that  as  circumcision  is 
expressly  declared  to  be  a  "seal  of  the  right- 
eousness of  faith;"  and  as  it  was  applied  by 
God's  own  commandment  to  infants  eight 
days  old,  if  the  baptism  of  infants  who  know 
nothing  of  believing  in  Christ,  is  nullity  and 
mockery — an  absurd  and  foolish  ceremony; 
then,  the  circumcision  of  infants  who  knew 
nothing  of  that  righteousness  of  faith  which 


146  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

it  sealed,  was  also  a  nullity  and  a  mockery; 
was  also  an  absurd  and  foolish  ceremony; 
and  the  divine  commandment  which  enjoined 
it,  a  foolish  and  an  absurd  commandment. 

3.  These  same  objections  are  applicable  to 
the  scriptural  doctrine  of  eternal  life.  "  He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized,s\\?i\\  be  saved," 
quotes  the  Anabaptist.  We  continue  the  quo- 
tation :  "  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
clamned.^^  Mark  xvi.  16. 

His  argument  is  this : 
Faith  is  required  in  order  to  baptism: 
But  infants  cannot  exercise  faith : 
Therefore,  infants  cannot  be  baptized. 

We  turn  his  argument  thus : 
Faith  is  required  in  order  to  salvation: 
But  infants  cannot  exercise  faith : 
Therefore,  infants  cannot  be  saved. 

And  so  this  famous  syllogism  begins  with 
shutting  out  our  children  from  the  church  of 
God;  and  ends  with  consigning  all  of  them 
who  die  in  infancy  to  the  damnation  of  hell.* 

We  are  quite  weary  and  almost  ashamed 
of  repeating  answers  so  trite  as  those  which 

*  We  do  not  say  that  the  opposers  of  infant  baptism 
hold  such  an  opinion.  Their  most  distinguished  writers 
disown  and  repel  it.  But  we  say  that  it  necessarily  re- 
sults from  their  requiring  faith,  in  all  cases,  as  a  qualifica- 
tion for  baptism.  They  do  not  follow  out  their  own  posi- 
tion. They  stop  short  at  tlie  point  which  suits  their 
system.  We  take  it  up  where  they  leave  it,  and  conduct 
it  to  its  direct  and  inevitable  conclusion.  Tlierefore, 
though  we  do  not  charge  the  men  with  maintaining  that 
those  who  die  in  infancy  perish;  yet  we  charge  this  con- 
sequence upon  their  argument;  for  it  certainly  proves 
this,  or  it  i>roves  nothing  at  all. 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  147 

we  are  compelled  to  repeat,  against  still  more 
trite  objections;  but  it  is  of  importance  to 
show  that  the  heaviest  stroke  wliich  the  ene- 
mies of  our  doctrine  level  at  us,  is  levelled, 
with  equal  strength,  at  themselves,  their  Bi- 
ble, and  their  God. 

These  remarks  belong  to  that  sort  of  argu- 
ment which  is  called  argumentum  ad  homi- 
nem;  that  is,  an  argument  drawn  from  a 
man's  own  principles  against  himself  Its  use 
is,  not  so  much  to  prove  the  truth,  as  to  dis- 
prove error:  not  to  show  that  our  own  cause 
is  good;  but  that  our  adversary's  reasoning 
is  bad ;  by  showing  that  his  weapon  cannot 
pierce  us  but  at  the  expense  of  transfixing 
himself;  so  that  if  he  prevail  against  us,  he 
will,  in  the  moment  of  his  victory,  meet  his 
own  death  on  the  point  of  his  own  sword. 

We  owe  our  readers  more.  We  owe  a 
decision  on  the  merits  of  the  case.  Which 
we  shall  attempt  by  pointing  out  the  true  use 
of  the  sacramental  seal. 

We  observed  in  an  early  part  of  the  dis- 
cussion, that  the  difficulty  which  produces 
objections  like  those  we  have  been  exposing, 
is  created  by  erroneous  notions  of  the  church 
of  God;  by  confounding  visible  members 
with  his  elect;  and  his  covenant  to  the 
church  with  his  covenant  o-f  grace  in  Christ 
Jesus:  and  that  a  proper  application  of  this 
distinction  will  remove  the  difficulty. 

The  sacramental  seal  has  appropriate  rela- 
tions to  these  covenants  respectively :  and 
thus  we  distinguish  them. 


148  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

1.  It  has  visible  relations  to  the  visible 
church.     Particularly, 

(1.)  It  certifies,  that  the  covenant  of  her 
God  to  her  abides,  and  secures  to  her  the 
perpetual  enjoyment  of  her  covenanted  pri- 
vileges. 

(2.)  It  certifies,  that  the  righteousness  of 
faith  and  the  salvation  connected  with  it,  are 
dispensed  in  the  church ;  and  Uiat  there,  and 
there  alone,  they  are  to  be  expected,  and 
sought. 

(3.)  It  certifies,  that  the  church  is  under 
the  consecration  of  the  Redeemer's  blood; 
has  an  unceasing  interest  in  his  mediation ; 
and  access  in  her  public  character,  and  in 
the  acts  of  direct  worship,  to  "  the  holiest  of 
all.'' 

(4.)  It  certifies,  that  the  covenanted  seed 
shall  never  be  extinct ;  but  that  "  a  seed  shall 
serve  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shall  be  accounted 
to  him  for  a  generation,  so  long  as  the  sun 
and  the  moon  endure." 

(5.)  It  certifies,  that  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  his  providence,  God  will  cause  his  saving 
mercy  to  run  in  the  channel  of  his  people's 
families. 

(6.)  It  certifies,  that  the  individual  sealed 
is  himself  a  link  in  the  great  chain  for  trans- 
mitting down,  from  generation  to  generation, 
the  knowledge  and  execution  of  God's  plan 
of  grace. 

(7.)  It  certifies,  that  the  individual  sealed 
has  a  right  to  the  prayers,  the  instruction, 
the  protection,  and  the  discipline  of  the  house 
of  God. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  149 

(8.)  In  the  baptism  of  infants,  it  certifies, 
that  even  they  need  the  purification  of  that 
blood  "which  cleanses  from  all  sin;"  and 
that  it  can  be  applied  to  them  for  their  salva- 
tion. So  that  infant  baptism  is  a  visible  tes- 
timony, incorporated  with  the  ordinances  of 
God's  worship,  both  to  the  guilt  and  depra- 
vity of  our  nature,  independently  of  actual 
transgression,  and  to  the  only  remedy  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  you  reject  it,  you 
throw  away  the  only  ordinance  which  di- 
rectly asserts  the  principle  upon  which  the 
whole  fabric  of  redemption  is  built,  viz.  that 
we  are  by  nature  children  of  wrath. 

These  are  great  and  important  uses  of  the 
sacramental  seal;  intimately  connected  with 
the  faith,  hope,  and  consolation  of  the  church ; 
and  yet  distinct  and  separate  from  an  indi- 
vidual's interest  in  the  salvation  of  God. 
Whatever  shall  become  of  him,  they  are 
grand,  and  solemn,  and  tender  truths,  to 
which  he  is  the  instrument  of  perpetuating  a 
testimony.  Should  he  afterwards  be  a  re- 
proach, instead  of  an  ornament,  to  the  gospel, 
should  he  be  "  abominable,  and  disobedient, 
and  to  every  good  work  reprobate,"  he  shall 
perish  indeed ;  but  his  perdition  shall  not  af- 
fect the  testimony  given  in  his  person,  by 
the  sacramental  seal,  to  those  blessed  truths 
and  privileges  which  we  have  enumerated. 
That  testimony,  that  sealed  testimony,  is 
absolute;  it  is  perfectly  independent  of  his 
spiritual  state;  and  is  precisely  the  same, 
14 


150  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

whether  he  be  "  appointed  to  wrath,  or  to 
obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

2.  The  sacramental  seal  has  a  special  rela- 
tion to  the  church  invisible,  and  to  the  spirit- 
ual mercies  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 

Union  with  Christ;  acceptance  in  his  mer- 
its; participation  of  his  Spirit;  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  death,  of  the  power  of  his  resur- 
rection, of  his  everlasting  love,,  and  an  inter- 
est in  all  the  blessings  of  his  purchase,  the 
sacraments  do  certainly  represent  and  seal. 
These  glorious  objects  always  have  been, 
and  still  are,  in  the  most  lively  and  affecting 
manner,  exhibited  to,  and  perceived  by,  the 
faith  of  believers;  and  their  personal  interest 
therein  is  at  times  certified  to  their  consci- 
ences by  "  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  where- 
by they  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption." 
But  all  this  is  peculiar  to  the  household  of 
faith.  It  presupposes  their  interest  in  Christ ; 
it  is  over  and  above  the  general  uses  which 
we  just  now  specified :  and  is  a  secret  be- 
tween the  Omniscient  God  and  the  happy 
recipient. 

The  reader  now  sees,  that  the  attestation 
of  the  sacramental  seal  is  to  be  limited  and 
extended  by  the  s/ate  of  the  receiver.  If  he 
be  only  a  member  of  the  visible  church,  and 
merely  within  the  bond  of  the  external  cove- 
nant, it  certifies  in  him  and  to  him  whatever 
appertains  to  him  in  that  relation,  and  no- 
thing more.  But  if  he  be  a  member  of  the 
church  invisible  also,  and  interested  in  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  151 

saving  benefits  of  the  covenant  of  grace ;  it 
goes  further,  and  certifies  whatever  apper- 
tains to  him  in  that  relation. 

With  the  help  of  this  obvious  distinction, 
we  remove  difficulties  which  are  otherwise 
extremely  perplexing;  reconcile  expressions 
otherwise  irreconcilable;  show  the  futility 
of  objections  founded  on  the  want  of  grace 
in  the  individual  sealed ;  and  demonstrate,  as 
we  promised,  "  that  the  seal  of  God's  cove- 
nant does,  in  every  instance,  certify  absolute 
truth;  whether  it  be  applied  to  a  believer  or 
an  unbeliever^  ta  the  elect  or  the  repro- 
bate." 


ESSAY  VIII. 


From  explaining  the  uses  which  the  visible 
church,  constituted  as  we  have  stated  it  to 
be,  subserves,  we  pass  on  to.  some  of  its 
practical  results.  We  mean  certain  princi- 
ples, flowing,  as  necessary  conclusions,  from 
the  doctrine  which  we  have  established;  and 
which  directly  influence  the  whole  system  of 
ecclesiastical  order. 

1.  The  right  and  duty  of  all  them  who  in 
every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  hold  religious  fellowship  with  each 
other,  as  God  affordeth  opportunity,  are  im- 
disputed  among  Christians.  Whatever  be 
their  diversities  of  opinion  concerning  the 


152  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

extent  of  that  general  description,  and  the 
religious  fellowship  founded  upon  it,  yet 
within  the  limits  which  they  prescribe  to 
themselves  respectively,  they  not  only  revere 
it  as  a  duty,  but  esteem  it  as  a  privilege. 
They  both  insist  upon  its  letter,  and  act  in  its 
spirit.  A  private  Christian  goes  from  one 
congregation  to  another,  and  is  received  upon 
the  evidence  of  his  having  been  a  member  of 
that  which  he  left.  A  minister  of  the  gospel 
travels  into  parts  distant  from  the  place  and 
society  where  he  was  ordained ;  and  preaches 
the  word,  without  scruple,  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world;  and  without  a  thought  of  his 
wanting  a  new  commission.  A  person  law- 
fully baptized  is  every  where  considered  as 
under  sacramental  consecration  to  God  in 
Christ;  and  nobody  dreams  of  repeating  his 
baptism.  We  make  no  account  of  the  ques- 
tion about  a  vaUd  or  invalid  ministry,  be- 
cause we  confine  ourselves,  at  present,  to  the 
communion  which  obtains  among  those  who 
are  agreed  on  this  point. 

We  ask,  then,  what  is  the  origin  and  rea- 
son of  this  communion?  What  is  there  to 
render  it  lawful  and  proper ?  "A  common 
interest,"  you  will  say, "  in  the  Christian  ordi- 
nances, and  the  benefits  dispensed  by  them." 
No  doubt.  But  what  is  the  basis  of  this  com- 
mon interest?  How  did  it  become  common? 
"  Christ  has  procured  it  for  his  church." 
Most  certainly.  But  what  church?  "  The 
church  of  those  who  are  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life."    Nothing  more  incon- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  153 

trovertible.  Yet  do  you  not  perceive  that 
you  have  laid  the  foundation  of  all  religious 
fellowship  in' this — that  the  elect  church  of 
the  redeemed  is  one,  and  that  individual 
Christians  enjoy  their  spiritual  immunities, 
merely  as  parts  of  that  great  ivhole  to  which 
Christ  has  bequeathed  them,  as  members 
of  the  one  "household  of  faith,"  as  citi- 
zens of  the  one  "city  of  God?''  That  the 
right  to  spiritual  privileges  turns  precisely 
on  this  point — "  They  are  given  to  the  church, 
and  I  am  a  member  of  the  church."  But  as 
there  can  be  no  external  communion  with- 
out an  external  church,  and  as  all  the  sec- 
tions of  true  believers  all  the  world  over, 
compose  but  one  church  invisible,  it  follows 
that  the  sections,  or  if  you  will,  congrega- 
tions, of  visible  believers,  compose  but  one 
visible  church.  For  it  seems  unreasonable 
to  say,  that  the  whole  number  of  real  Chris- 
tians should  not  bear  the  same  general  rela- 
tion to  the  whole  number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians among  whom  they  are  included,  with 
that  which  every  portion  of  real  Christians 
bears  to  that  portion  of  professed  Christians 
in  which  it  is  included.  But  the  relation 
which  a  number  of  true  Christians,  in  the 
bonds  of  Christian  fellowship,  bear  to  the 
external  society  to  which  they  belong,  is 
that  of  a  part  of  the  church  catholic  invisi- 
ble, to  a  particular  visible  church.  There- 
fore, the  relation  which  all  the  parts  of  the 
church  invisible  bear  to  all  particular  visible 


154  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

churches,  is  that  of  one  general  church  invi- 
sible to  one  general  church  visible. 

Again :  The  several  portions  of  real  Chris- 
tians are  related  to  their  aggregate  number, 
as  parts  of  a  great  whole,  which  is  the  Catho- 
lic church  invisible.  Therefore,  all  the  por- 
tions or  congregations  of  professed  Chris- 
tians are  related  to  each  other  as  parts  of  a 
great  whole,  which  is  the  Catholic  church 
visible. 

Hence  it  results,  that  as  a  right  to  those 
privileges  which  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  pur- 
chased for  his  redeemed,  is  founded  in  the 
circumstance  of  being  a  member  of  that 
church  which  is  made  up  of  them;  so,  a 
right  to  the  external  privileges  which  are  dis- 
pensed by  an  external  ministry  in  the  exter- 
nal church,  is  founded  upon  the  fact  of  one's 
being  a  member  of  that  church.  It  is  on  this 
ground,  and  on  this  alone,  that  the  commu- 
nion of  churches  is  established.  A  man  is 
not  admitted  to  Christian  fellowship  in  one 
congregation  because  he  is  a  member  of  an- 
other— this  would  be  a  solecism.  But  he  is 
admitted  because  he  is  a  member  of  the 
church  catholic;  of  which  his  communion  in 
any  particular  church  is  received  as  evidence 
by  every  other  particular  church.  He  is 
free  of  the  "  city  of  God,''  and  therefore  en- 
titled to  the  immunities  of  citizenship  in 
whatever  part  of  the  city  he  may  happen  to 
be.  We  may  illustrate  this  matter  by  an 
analogy  from  civil  affairs.     A  citizen  of  the 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  155 

State  of  New  York  carries  his  citizenship 
with  him  to  every  spot  under  her  jurisdic- 
tion. It  is  of  no  consequence  in  what  county 
or  town  he  resides;  nor  how  often  he  removes 
from  one  town  or  county  to  another;  nor 
whether  he  be  at  his  own  dweUing;  or  on  a 
visit  to  a  friend;  or  on  a  journey;  whatever 
privileges  belong  to  him  in  his  general  cha- 
racter of  a  citizen  of  the  state,  he  can  claim 
any  where  and  every  where :  for  example, 
the  right  of  voting  for  governor,  provided  he 
be  legally  qualified. 

On  the  contrary,  a  man's  being  an  inhabi- 
tant of  a  particular  city  or  town,  does  not 
give  him  the  least  title  to  the  immunities 
peculiar  to  any  other  city  or  town.  It  would 
be  very  absurd  for  him  to  insist  that  because 
he  had  a  right  to  vote  for  charter  officers  in 
New  York,  therefore  he  has  a  right  to  vote 
for  charter  officers  in  Albany !  The  reason 
is,  they  are  independent  of  each  other.  But 
if  voting  for  charter  officers  were  a  right 
attached  to  citizenship  at  large,  then  he  could 
claim  the  right  in  any  city  within  the  state — 
and  he  would  vote  in  Albany,  not  because 
he  had  voted  in  New  York,  but  because  he 
is  a  member  of  the  state  which  includes  tHem 
both. 

The  very  same  principle  pervades  the 
church  of  God.  Were  it  not  one,  no  man 
could  claim  privilege  or  exercise  office,  out  of 
the  particular  church  to  which  he  belongs. 
A  minister  is  no  minister  out  of  his  own  pul- 
pit and  his  own  charge.    It  would  be  just  as 


156  CHTTRCH    OF    GOD. 

proper  for  an  alderman  of  New  York  to  issue 
writs  in  Albany,  as  for  a  minister  of  a  con- 
gregation in  New  York  to  offer  to  preach  in 
Albany.  The  effect  would  be,  that  a  minis- 
ter must  have  a  new  commission,  that  is,  a 
new  ordination,  for  every  new  church  he 
should  preach  in. 

We  know  that  no  church  under  heaven  is 
able  to  carry  this  principle  out  into  practice. 
There  is  but  one  of  two  ways  to  avoid  the 
embarrassment  : 

Either,  communion  between  the  members 
and  ministers  of  different  congregations,  is 
the  result  of  an  agreement  between  them ;  or 
the  independent  churches  themselves  do  act 
upon  the  principle  which  they  deny,  the  ca- 
tholic unity  of  the  church. 

If  the  latter,  our  point  is  gained.  If  the 
former,  then  the  communion  of  churches  is 
derived,  not  from  their  communion  with  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  nor  from  his  authority; 
but  from  a  human  compact;  and  thus  far 
we  have  no  Christian  privileges  at  all. 

If,  to  elude  the  force  of  this  conclusion,  it 
be  said,  that  Christ  has  warranted  and  re- 
quired his  churches,  although  independent  of 
eacfi  other,  to  keep  up  their  fellowship  in  his 
name — we  reply,  that  this  is  a  contradiction. 
Because  the  very  fact  of  his  uniting  them  in 
such  fellowship  constitutes  them,  to  its  whole 
extent,  but  one  body,  the  members  of  which 
cannot  possibly  be  independent  of  each 
other.  The  issue  is,  that  all  Christian  and 
ministerial  communion  originates  in  the  visi- 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  157 

ble  unity  of  the  catholic  church;  and  that 
there  is  no  explaining  its  reason,  nor  pre- 
serving its  existence,  without  admitting,  in 
some  shape  or  other,  that  the  church  of  God 
is  one.    This  is  our  first  result. 

2.  From  the  relation  in  which  the  children 
of  believing  parents  stand  to  the  church  of 
God,  there  result  mutual  rights  and  duties. 

1st.  Such  children  have  a  right,  even  in 
their  infancy,  to  a  solemn  acknowledgment 
of  their  membership  by  the  administration  of 
baptism — they  have  a  right  to  the  individual 
and  collective  prayers  of  Christians ;  that  is, 
to  be  remembered  before  the  throne  of  grace 
by  Christians  in  their  retired  devotion,  and  in 
the  public  worship  of  the  church.  They 
have  a  right,  during  their  tender  age,  to  her 
instruction,  her  protection,  and  her  salutary 
control.  It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  lit- 
tle children,  who  were  so  graciously  noticed 
by  her  king  and  her  God,  should  have  no 
claim  upon  her  parental  affection.  They  are 
her  hope ;  they  are  the  seed  from  which  she 
is  to  look  for  "  trees  of  righteousness ;  the 
planting  of  Jehovah  that  he  may  be  glorifi- 
ed." And,  as  such,  they  are  entitled  to  her 
patient  and  assiduous  culture. 

This  is  the  birth-right  of  the  children  of 
those  who  name  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
We  had  it  from  our  fathers,  "  They  trusted 
in  God;  they  trusted  in  him  and  they  were 
not  confounded.'^  He  was  their  God;  and 
he  was  our  God  also,  because  he  was  the 
God  of  their  seed.     Thus  "the  lines  fell  unto 


158  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

US  in  pleasant  places;  yea  we  had  a  goodly 
heritage.'^  Owning  the  God  of  our  fathers, 
we  call  upon  him  as  th€  G-od  of  our  seed; 
and  the  inheritance  which  we  derived  from 
them  we  transmit  to  our  sons  and  our  daugh- 
ters, that  they  may  hand  it  down  to  their 
children,  and  their  children  to  another  gene- 
ration. Our  giddy  youth  undervalue  this 
privilege;  our  profane  youth  laugh  at  it.  In 
doing  so  they  "  observe  lying  vanities,  and 
forsake  their  own  mercies.'^  Such  as  have 
come  to  their  right  mind,  and  have  learned 
to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  will  say,  with 
heartfelt  emotion,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Watts; 

"  Lord,  I  ascribe  it  to  thy  grace ; 
And  not  to  chance  as  others  do^ 
That  I  was  born  of  Christian  race, 
And  not  a  heatlien  or  a  Jew." 

2d.  There  are  duties  corresponding  with 
these  privileges.  Youth  born  in  the  Chris- 
tian church,  acknowledged  as  her  children, 
and  put  under  her  care,  can  never  shake  off 
certain  tender  and  solemn  obligations. 

They  are  bound  to  revere  her  authority, 
and  to  promote  her  happiness.  The  very  law 
of  nature  entitles  her  to  this.  A  young  man 
who  should  evince,  from  the  time  he  was 
capable  of  action,  a  studied  contempt  for  the 
magistrates,  laws,  institutions  and  welfare  of 
his  country,  would  be  held  to  have  renoun- 
ced all  virtuous  principle;  and,  if  he  should 
elude  the  tribunals  of  justice,  could  not  es- 
cape the  punishment  of  public  detestation. 
But  why?     Is  it  because  God  has  entrusted 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  159 

his  church  with  his  living  oracles;  and  dig- 
nified her  with  his  gracious  presence,  that 
her  counsels  are  beneath  regard,  and  her 
control  a  matter  of  scorn?  Is  it  because  she 
has  done  more  to  prepare  her  children  for 
usefulness,  for  comfort,  and  for  glory,  than 
mere  civil  society  ever  did,  or  ever  can  do, 
that  she  has  forfeited  their  esteem,  does  not 
deserve  a  hearing  when  she  exhorts  or  re- 
monstrates, and  sliall  have  her  most  friendly 
and  faithful  services  repaid  with  indifference 
or  disdain?  And  shall  behaviour  which,  in 
every  other  community  would  seal  a  man 
up  for  infamy,  be  applauded  as  spirited  and 
magnanimous  in  the  church  of  God?  Let 
not  the  unworthy  notion  find  a  place  among 
our  young  people ;  let  them  feel  their  obliga- 
tions to  requite,  with  kindness,  the  care  which 
watched  over  their  early  days;  and  to  re- 
spect the  counsels  and  institutions  whose  ten- 
dency is  not  to  debase,  but  to  ennoble  them; 
not  to  embitter  their  enjoyments,  but  to  en- 
sure their  peace;  not  to  lead  them  into  harm, 
but  to  save  them  from  ruin  here,  and  to 
crown  them  with  eternal  blessedness  in  the 
world  to  come. 

Let  them  reflect,  moreover,  that  they  are 
bound  to  own  their  relation  to  the  church  of 
God,  by  professing  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ:  showing  forth  his  death  in  the 
communion  of  the  holy  supper,  and  walking 
in  all  his  ordinances  and  commandments 
blameless. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  even  such  of  them 


160  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

as  are  of  sober  deportment;  as  carefully 
avoid  every  thing  rude  or  unbecoming  to- 
ward Christianity  and  Christians;  as  would 
turn  with  horror  from  open  infidelity,  do  yet, 
for  the  most  part,  labour  under  the  evil  of 
an  erroneous  conscience  on  this  subject ;  and 
seduce  themselves  into  a  false  and  hurtful 
tranquillity.  They  seem  to  think  that  pro- 
fessing or  not  professing  to  be  followers  of 
Christ  is  a  matter  of  mere  choice — that  the 
omission  contracts  no  guilt,  while  it  enlarges 
the  sphere  of  their  indulgences,  and  exempts 
them  from  the  necessity  of  that  tender  and 
circumspect  walk  which  belongs  to  a  real 
Christian. 

This  is  all  wrong — radically  wrong.  The 
very  mildest  construction  which  it  can  bear, 
amounts  to  a  confession  of  their  being  "aliens 
from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  and  stran- 
gers to  the  covenants  of  promise" — of  their 
anxiety  to  decline  something  which  the  ser- 
vice of  God  imposes,  or  of  retaining  some- 
thing which  it  abjures — and  is  not  this  a 
most  alarming  thought  ?  Do  they  expect  to 
get  to  heaven  with  tempers  and  habits  which 
are  incompatible  with  devotedness  to  God 
upon  earth?  If  they  do  not  choose  to  "name 
the  name  of  Christ,"  is  it  not  because  they 
do  not  choose  to  "depart  from  iniquity?" 
Let  them  not  cherish  any  delusive  hope. 
"  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.  And  if  any  man  have  not  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his!"  0  let  them 
weigh  well  the  alternative  !  If  they  do,  what 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  161 

possible  reason  can  they  assign  for  refusing 
to  honour  him  before  men?  Nay,  this  can- 
not be  admitted :  for  if  with  the  heart  they 
beUeve  unto  righteousness,  with  the  mouth 
they  will  also  make  confession  unto  salva- 
tion. And  Christ  has  told  them  that  if  they 
will  "not  confess  him  before  men,"  they  have 
nothing  to  expect  but  that  "  he  will  not  con- 
fess them  before  his  Father  who  is  in  hea- 
ven." By  not  confessing  the  Lord  Jesus, 
they  declare  themselves  willing  to  be  ac- 
counted unbelievers.  Are  they  prepared  for 
the  consequences? 

Furthermore.  It  arises  out  of  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  that  if  the  most  High  God 
condescends  to  offer  eternal  life,  in  his  dear 
Son,  to  sinners,  whom  he  might  justly  shut 
up  under  an  irreversible  sentence  of  death, 
they  cannot  slight  his  offer  without  the  most 
flagrant  ingratitude,  and  the  most  aggrava- 
ted guilt.  His  commandment  to  receive  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  his  "  unspeakable  gift," 
is  peremptory:  and  disobedience  to  it  an  act 
of  direct  rebellion.  To  say  then,  "  I  will  not 
profess  the  name  of  Christ,"  is  to  say,  "  I 
will  neither  submit  to  the  authority  of  God, 
nor  accept  the  gift  of  his  grace."  With  the 
very  same  propriety  might  you  say,  I  will 
pay  no  respect  to  the  moral  law — I  will  go 
after  strange  gods;  I  will  bow  to  graven  im- 
ages— I  will  swear  and  blaspheme — I  will 
not  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day — I  will  not 
obey  my  parents — I  will  murder,  and  commit 
adultery,  and  steal,  and  lie,  and  covet;  I  will 


162  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

do  nothing  which  God  has  required ;  and  I 
will  do  every  thing  which  he  has  forbidden ! 
Does  the  youthful  reader  start  and  tremble? 
Why?  The  same  God  who  has  said,  Thou 
shalt  not  kill — thou  shalt  not  commit  adul- 
tery— thou  shalt  not  steal — thou  shalt  not 
lie:  has  said,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  the  same  authority  which  en- 
joins, and  the  same  rebellion  which  resists. 
Thou  canst  not,  therefore,  decline  that  "  good 
confession,"  but  at  the  peril  of"  putting  away 
from  thee  the  words  of  eternal  life."  And 
thou  knowest  what  his  word  has  decided. — 
<*  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

let  him  be ."  1  Cor.  xvi.  22. 

There  is  something  more.  Many  young 
persons  imagine  that  they  are  not  members 
of  the  church,  until,  upon  a  personal  profes- 
sion of  their  faith,  they  join  it  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  holy  supper.  This  is  a  great 
mistake.  The  children  of  Christian  parents 
are  horn  members  of  the  church.  Their  bap- 
tism is  founded  upon  their  membership;  and 
not,  as  some  people  suppose,  their  member-  ^ 
ship  upon  their  baptism.  On  the  same  prin- 
ciple, when  they  arrive  at  the  years  of  dis- 
cretion, they  may,  in  taking  upon  them  their 
baptismal  engagements,  by  a  becoming  pro- 
fession of  the  Lord  Jesus,  demand  a  seat  at 
his  table,  as  their  privilege  which  the  church 
cannot  deny.  Their  allegiance  to  him  as 
their  Redeemer,  their  King,  and  their  God, 
is  inseparable  from  their  birth-right.  The 
question,  then,  with  them,  when  they  reach 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  163 

that  period  of  maturity,  which  quahfies  them 
to  judge  for  themselves,  is,  not  whether  they 
shall  contract  or  avoid  an  allegiance  which 
has  hitherto  had  no  claims  upon  them:  but 
whether  they  shall  acknowledge  o^  renounce 
an  allegiance  under  which  they  drew  their 
first  breath;  whether  they  shall  disown  the 
prince  of  life,  and  waive  their  interest  in  his 
church;  whether  they  shall  disclaim  the 
God  of  their  fathers;  forswear  their  conse- 
cration to  his  service — take  back  the  vows 
which  were  made  over  them  and  for  them 
when  they  were  presented  to  him  in  his  sanc- 
tuary; his  blessed  name  called  upon  them; 
and  the  symbol  of  that  "  blood  which  cleans- 
eth  from  all  sin,"  applied  to  them.  Not 
whether  they  shall  be  simple  unbelievers, 
but  whether  they  shall  display  their  unbelief 
in  the  form  of  apostasy.  That  is  the  ques- 
tion: and  an  awful  one  it  is.  As  they  value 
their  eternal  life,  let  them  consider,  that  every 
hour  of  their  continuance  in  their  neglect  of 
Christ  is  an  hour  of  contempt  for  his  salva- 
tion, and  of  slander  on  his  cross.  How  shall 
their  hearts  endure  or  their  hands  be  made 
strong,  when  he  shall  come  to  reckon  with 
them  for  Xh^u^  treading  him  under  foot,  and 
counting  the  blood  of  the  covenant  where- 
with  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing? 
Reckon  with  them  he  will,  and  precisely  for 
their  not  owning  him;  for  they  cannot,  no, 
they  cannot  shake  off  their  obligations  to  own 
him;  although  in  the  attempt  they  may 
destroy  themselves  for  ever. 


164  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

"  According  to  this  representation,"  I  shall 
be  told,  "  the  condition  of  many  of  our  youth 
is  very  deplorable.  It  is  their  duty,  you  say, 
to  profess  the  name  of  Christ,  and  to  seal 
their  profession  at  the  sacramental  table. 
This  they  cannot  do :  for  they  are  conscious 
that  they  do  not  possess  those  principles  and 
dispositions  which  are  requisite  to  render 
such  a  profession  honest.  What  course  shall 
they  steer?  If  they  do  not  profess  Christ, 
they  live  in  rebelUon  against  God:  if  they 
do,  they  mock  him  with  a  lie.  Which  side 
of  the  alternative  shall  they  embrace?  Con- 
tinue among  the  profane,  and  be  consistently 
wicked?  or  withdraw  from  them  in  appear- 
ance, and  play  the  hypocrite?" 

The  case  is,  indeed,  very  deplorable.  De- 
struction is  on  either  hand.  For  the  unhe" 
lievins^  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  of 
fire,  Rev.  xxi.  8;  and  the  hypocrite's  hope 
shall  perish.  Job  viii.  13.  God  forbid  that 
we  should  encourage  either  a  false  profes- 
sion, or  a  refusal  to  make  one.  The  duty  is 
to  embrace  neither  side  of  the  alternative; 
not  to  continue  with  the  profane,  and  not  to 
act  the  hypocrite;  but  to  receive  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  truth,  and  to  walk  in  him. 
"I  cannot  do  it,"  replies  one;  and  one,  it 
may  be,  not  without  moments  of  serious  and 
tender  emotion  upon  this  very  point :  "  1  can- 
not do  it."  My  soul  bleeds  for  thee,  thou 
unhappy!  But  it  must  be  done,  or  thou  art 
lost  for  ever.  Yet  what  is  the  amount  of 
that  expression — in  the  mouth  of  some,  a 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  165 

flaunting  excuse,  and  of  others  a  bitter  com- 
plaint— I  cannot?  Is  the  inability  to  believe 
in  Christ  different  from  an  inabihty  to  per- 
form any  other  duty?  Is  there  any  harder 
necessity  of  calling  the  God  of  Truth  a  liar, 
"in  not  believing  the  record  which  he  hath 
given  of  his  Son,"  than  of  committing  any 
other  sin — the  inability  created,  the  neces- 
sity imposed,  by  the  enmity  of  the  carnal 
mind  against  God?  Rom.  viii.  7.  It  is  the 
inability  of  wickedness,  and  of  nothing  else. 
Instead  of  being  an  apology,  it  is  itself  the 
essential  crime,  and  can  never  become  its 
own  vindication. 

But  it  is  even  so.  The  evil  does  lie  too 
deep  for  the  reach  of  human  remedies.  Yet 
a  remedy  there  is,  and  an  effectual  one.  It 
is  here — "  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean;  from  all  your 
filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols  will  I 
cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give 
you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you: 
And  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out 
of  your  flesh ;  and  I  will  give  you  an  heart 
of  flesh.  And  I  will /?w/  my  Spirit  within 
you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes; 
and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments  and  do 
them."  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25 — 27.  Try  this  ex- 
pedient :  Go,  with  thy  "  filthiness"  and  thine 
"idols;"  Go,  with  thy  "stony  heart"  and 
thy  perverse  spirit,  which  are  thy  real  ina- 
bility, to  God  upon  the  throne  of  grace; 
spread  out  before  him  his  "  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promise" — importune  him  as 
15 


166  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

the  hearer  of  prayer,  m  the  name  of  Jesus, 
for  the  accomphshment  of  it  to  thyself — Wait 
for  his  mercy:  it  is  worth  waiting  for — and 
remember  his  word;  "Therefore  will  the 
Lord  wait,  that  he  may  be  gracions  unto 
you:  and  therefore  will  he  be  exalted  that 
he  may  have  mercy  upon  you:  for  the  Lord 
is  a  God  of  judgment;  blessed  are  all  they 
that  wait  for  him.''  Isa.  xxx.  18. 

The  rights  and  duties  of  the  children  of 
believing  parents,  arising  out  of  their  relation 
to  the  church,  is  only  part  of  our  second  re- 
sult. As  they  are  mutual,  let  us  now  turn  the 
question  and  view  it  in  its  relation  to  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  Christian  church 
toward  such  children. 

A  right  to  provide  for  the  proper  education 
of  their  youth,  has  always  been  claimed,  and 
exercised  in  some  form  or  other,  by  every 
civilized  community.  It  is,  indeed,  inherent 
in  the  very  nature  of  human  society;  as  it 
springs  out  of  that  great,  universal,  and  es- 
sential principle  of  man — self-preservation. 
The  risen  generation  is,  for  the  most  part, 
fixed.  Their  habits  are  formed,  their  cha- 
racters settled,  and  what  is  to  be  expected 
from  them  may  be  ascertained  with  sutHcient 
exactness  for  the  principal  purposes  of  life. 
Not  so  with  the  rising  race.  No  sagacity 
can  foretell  what  characters  shall  be  devel- 
oped, or  what  parts  performed,  by  these  boys 
and  girls  who  throng  our  streets  and  sport  in 
our  fields.  Li  their  tender  breasts  are  con- 
cealed the  germs,  in  their  little  hands  are 


CHURCH   OF    GOD.  167 

lodged  the  weapons,  of  a  nation's  overthrow 
or  glory.  Would  it  not,  then,  be  madness; 
would  it  not  be  a  sort  of  political  suicide,  for 
the  commonwealth  to  be  unconcerned  what 
direction  their  infant  powers  shall  take;  or 
into  what  habits  their  budding  affections  shall 
ripen  ?  Or  will  it  be  disputed,  that  the  civil 
authority  has  a  right  to  take  care,  by  a  pa- 
ternal interference,  on  behalf  of  the  children, 
that  the  next  generation  shall  not  prostrate 
in  an  hour,  whatever  has  been  consecrated 
to  truth,  to  virtue,  and  to  happiness,  by  the 
generations  that  are  past? 

If  this  is  the  common  privilege  of  human 
nature,  on  what  principle  shall  it  be  denied 
to  the  church  of  God?  Spiritual  in  her  cha- 
racter, furnished  with  every  light  to  guide 
the  understanding,  and  every  precept  to 
mould  the  heart — possessing  whatever  is 
fearful  to  deter  from  sin,  and  whatever  is 
sweet  and  alluring  to  win  to  God  and  holi- 
ness, how  is  it  possible  that  she  can  have  no 
right  to  bring  these  her  advantages  to  bear 
upon  the  youth  committed  to  her  trust?  Why 
were  they  thus  committed?  How  shall  she 
deserve  the  name  of  the  spouse  of  Christ,  if 
she  endeavour  not  to  bring  up  her  own  chil- 
dren in  his  "nurture  and  admonition?"  Ad- 
mitting the  children  of  believing  parents  to 
be  her  members,  the  right  to  instruct  and 
watch  over  them,  is  a  matter  of  course.  For 
it  is  a  solecism  and  an  absurdity  to  talk  of  a 
society  which  has  no  authority  over  its  own 
members.   And  when  we  establish  the  right, 


168  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

we  establish  also  the  duty.  The  power  is 
given  to  be  employed.  It  is  a  talent  for 
which  the  master  will  demand  an  account. 
If  he  has  authorized  his  church  to  take  charge 
of  the  children  within  her  pale,  she  is  respon- 
sible for  the  manner  in  which  she  acquits 
herself  of  the  trust.    How  is  this  to  be  done? 

1st.  All  baptized  children,  (whom  by  their 
baptism  she  acknowledges  to  be  a  part  of 
her  care,)  are  to  be  instructed  by  her  autho- 
rity, and  under  her  eye. 

There  is  a  domestic  training  which  it  is  her 
business  to  see  that  parents  give  their  chil- 
dren. But  she  has  an  interest  in  these  chil- 
dren altogether  her  own.  Her  ministers,  or 
official  catechists,  are,  in  her  name,  to  instil 
into  them  the  principles  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, over  and  above  their  tuition  at  home; 
and  whether  their  parents  be  faithful  to  them 
or  not.  A  child  is  not  to  be  turned  off,  and 
left  a  prey  to  destruction,  because  its  parents 
do  not  shrink  from  the  crime  of  ^'  blood-guilti- 
ness," even  guiltiness  of  the  blood  of  their 
own  offspring.  Means  are,  therefore,  to  be 
used,  that  all  the  children  of  a  congregation 
attend  public  instruction  in  the  doctrines  and 
duties  of  religion,  as  an  ordinance  of  Christ; 
and  to  have  the  sense  of  their  subjection  to 
his  ordinances  incorporated  with  their  earliest 
habits  of  thinking.  No  church  can  neglect 
this  care  without  suffering:  no  church  has 
ever  fostered  it  without  abundant  recom- 
pense. The  most  intelligent,  sober,  staid, 
active  Christians,  are  usually  those  who  have 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  169 

grown  up  under  the  operation  of  this  gentle 
but  efficient  discipline. 

2d.  The  church  is  to  inspect  the  conduct 
of  her  youth. 

I  do  not  mean  that  she  is  to  encourage 
hawkers  of  scandal,  nor  to  entertain  legions 
of  spies,  for  their  benefit.  Not  that  she  is  to 
put  on  that  dismal  visage  which  petrifies  the 
juvenile  heart;  nor  indulge  that  morose  in- 
quisition which  arraigns,  as  a  crime,  every 
burst  of  juvenile  cheerfulness.  It  is  as  much 
a  part  of  God's  natural  constitution  that 
youth  should  be  sprightly,  as  that  age  should 
be  grave.  To  reduce  to  one  size  and  one 
quality,  all  the  decencies  of  life  in  all  its 
periods,  is  the  attribute  of  zeal  which  never 
discriminates,  of  severity  which  never  learns, 
or  of  Pharisaism  which  finds  a  righteousness 
in  reprobating  enjoyments  which  it  cannot 
share. 

But,  after  every  proper  allowance  and  pre- 
caution, there  is  left  a  large  field  of  juvenile 
conduct  for  the  eye  of  the  church  to  explore. 
Both  in  affirming  the  principles  of  rectitude, 
and  in  resisting  the  principles  of  evil,  she  may 
and  she  oitght  to  do  much  for  her  youth. 

If  a  child  be  exemplary  in  filial  or  fraternal 
afiection;  pure  in  behaviour  among  others; 
diligent  in  learning  the  precious  truths  of  re- 
velation; reverential  towards  the  ordinances 
of  public  and  private  worship ;  fearful  of  sin- 
ning against  God;  it  is  no  small  encourage- 
ment to  have  these  excellencies  observed, 
cherished,  ani  honoured,  by  those  who  bear 


170  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

rule  in  the  church.  Timidity  subsides;  bash- 
fulness  is  attempered  into  modesty ;  the  duc- 
tile .inclination  grows  into  consistent  purpose; 
and  thus  "  little  ones"  are  brought  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  prepared  for  occupying,  in  due 
season,  the  places  of  those  whose  grey  hairs 
announce  the  approach  of  that  hour  in  which 
they  are  to  be  numbered  with  them  who  have 
died  in  faith. 

On  the  other  hand,  can  any  reflecting  per- 
son doubt,  that  the  seasonable  interposition 
of  the  church  of  God,  might  save  many  a 
youth  from  falling  a  victim  to  his  own  de- 
pravity, or  to  the  depravity  of  others?  Why 
should  a  doubt  be  entertained  on  the  sub- 
ject? Is  the  experiment  fairly  tried?  Are  the 
churches  in  the  habit  of  throwing  themselves 
in  between  ruin  and  the  youth  who  have  not 
openly  professed  religion?  Do  parents,  on 
the  failure  of  domestic  admonition,  ever  re- 
sort to  this  remedy?  Ought  they  not  to  do  it? 
Why  should  a  tender  and  solemn  remon- 
strance, in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  the 
Creator  and  the  Judge  of  all,  be  without  its 
influence  in  recovering  an  unpractised  sinner 
from  the  error  of  the  wicked?  Why  should 
not  an  (mthoriiative  expostulation,  on  the 
part  of  the  church  of  God,  brought  home  to 
individual  feeling,  have  some  efl'ect,  as  a 
rational  means,  in  prevailing  with  the  young 
to  consider  their  obligation  to  recognize  the 
vows  made  over  them  in  their  baptism? 
There  are  more  troublesome  consciences  on 
this  point,  among  our  youth,«-than  we,  per- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  171 

haps,  imagine.  Why  should  they  not  be  told, 
that  continuance  in  carelessness,  or  abandon- 
ment to  iniquity,  will  compel  the  church  of 
God  to  disown  them,  and  to  rank  them  with 
those  concerning  whom  slie  has  no  promises 
to  plead?  Let  it  not  be  said  that  "the 
state  of  religious  society  forbids  such  an  in- 
terference— that  parents  and  children  would 
spurn  at  it  as  an  encroachment  upon  their 
liberty — and  that  instead  of  gaining  our  youth, 
it  would  drive  them,  at  once,  into  the  camp 
of  the  profane ;" — at  least,  let  not  these  things 
be  said  without /crc/*  to  support  them.  They 
are  the  suggestions  of  fear,  unsanctioned  by 
experience.  No  doubt,  in  the  decayed  state 
of  Christian  order,  much  prudence  is  neces- 
sary for  its  revival:  but  the  necessity  of  pru- 
dence cannot  excuse  inaction.  It  is  very 
possible,  also,  that  some  young  saints  would 
"  kick  against  the  pricks."  But  the  same 
objection  lies  against  the  faithful  preaching 
of  the  word;  and  against  the  impartial  use 
of  discipline  toward  professors.  There  are 
weighty  reasons  why  a  judicious  extension  of 
church  authority  to  baptized  youth  in  general, 
would  not  be  so  fruitless  and  despicable  as 
some  suppose. 

First,  The  mere  power  of  opi?iwn  which 
it  would  employ,  could  not  be  easily  resisted. 
It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  a  very  little 
quantity  of  opinion  goes  a  great  way  with 
all  minds  which  have  not  yet  acquired  self- 
stabihty;  and  such  opinion  as  the  Christian 


172  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

church  can  at  all  times  command,  no  man 
hvmg  can  disregard  with  impunity. 

Secondly,  In  many  instances,  this  inter- 
ference would  combine  with  domestic  pre- 
cept and  example;  and  how  far  their  united 
forces  would  go,  nothing  but  the  event  is  en- 
titled to  pronounce. 

Thirdly,  Dissolute  as  the  world  is,  and 
disposed  as  multitudes  are  to  scoff  at  every 
thing  which  bears  the  image  and  superscrip- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  it  will  be  no  recommen- 
dation even  with  thoughtless  people,  that  a 
young  person  fled  away  from  the  voice  of 
kindly  instruction;  much  less  that  he  was 
thrust  out  on  account  of  his  vices.  Some 
there  are,  who,  to  serve  the  present  hour, 
would  applaud  his  spirit;  and,  on  the  first 
disagreement,  would  upbraid  him  with  his 
disgrace.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  stand 
easily  under  an  excommunication  of  any 
sort.  Exclusion,  for  faults,  from  any  decent 
society,  is,  and  ever  will  be,  a  stigma.  Who- 
ever disbelieves  it,  has  only  to  try. 

Fourthly,  The  providence  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  his  control  over  the  hearts 
and  affairs  of  men,  are  especially  to  be  re- 
garded. Perhaps  no  instance  can  be  shown 
of  contempt  upon  the  discipline  of  his  house 
not  being  followed,  sooner  or  later,  with  most 
disastrous  consequences  to  the  offender.  He 
has  promised  to  own,  support,  and  vindicate 
it,  as  solemnly  as  he  ever  promised  to  bless 
the  gospel  of  his  grace.     If  more  stress  were 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  173 

laid  upon  his  agency  in  rendering  effectual  his 

own  institutions;  we  should  both  discharge 
our  duty  more  exactly,  and  see  it  crowned 
with  greater  success.  Let  the  churches  begin 
to  look  after  their  youth — let  them  commit 
their  efforts  to  their  Master's  fahhfulness.  It 
will  be  time  enough  to  complain  when  he 
"leaves  himself  without  a  witness." 

3d.  There  is  a  particular  class  of  children 
to  whom  the  church  owes  a  duty  which  she 
too  frequently  neglects — I  mean  orphans. 

Godly  parents  die ;  and  their  little  ones  are 
scattered.  Scattered,  indeed,  they  often  must 
be,  but  forgotten  they  ought  not  to  be.  They 
are  often  permitted  to  be  placed  in  families 
where  they  can  reap  no  religious  benefit.  All 
responsibility  for  them  seems  to  be  thrown 
away,  and  given  to  the  winds  with  the  last 
breath  of  their  father  or  mother.  Thus  aban- 
doned by  the  church,  which  ought  to  be  to 
them  in  God's  stead,  and  when  their  father 
and  their  mother  forsake  them,  to  take  them 
up,  they  are  in  danger  of  being  lost  in  this 
world,  and  in  the  world  to  come.  I  speak 
immediately  of  those  who  have  no  private  de- 
pendence but  the  bounty  of  strangers.  Guilt 
in  this  matter,  there  certainly  is,  and  the 
sooner  we  arise  to  shake  it  out  of  our  skirts, 
the  better  will  it  be  for  ourselves,  and  our 
own  children. 

Beside  the  conclusions  which  we  have 
drawn  from  the  general  constitution  of  the 
Church  of  God  relative  to  Christian  com- 
munion, and  the  rights  and  duties  mutually 
16 


174  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

subsisting  between  the  church  and  her  infant 
members,  there  is  a 

Third  result  relative  to  her  officers;  espe- 
cially those  who  labour  in  the  word  and  doc- 
trine. It  is  this:  They  are  primarily  the 
property  of  the  church  catholic;  and  only 
in  a  SECONDARY  and  subordinate  sense,  the 
property  of  a  particular  congregation. 

Throughout  the  christiauized  world,  it  has 
always  been  customary,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  to  remove  ministers  of  the  gospel 
from  one  pastoral  charge  to  another,  or  to 
liberate  them  from  pastoral  ties  altogether, 
that  they  might  promote,  in  a  different  form, 
the  interests  of  the  Christian  cause.  For  very 
obvious  reasons,  these  removals  happen  most 
frequently  to  men  of  talents.  Nor  is  there  a 
single  thing  which  creates  more  uneasiness 
and  heart-burning.  It  is  perfectly  natural. 
For  neither  individuals  nor  societies  are  fond 
of  parting  with  what  they  consider  a  trea- 
sure. Able,  faithful,  discreet  ministers,  are  a 
rare  blessing;  and  it  would  say  little  for  the 
understanding,  and  less  for  the  religion,  of 
any  church  which  should  lightly  relinquish 
it.  We  must  further  admit,  that  a  wanton 
disruption  of  the  pastoral  ties  is  foolish,  un- 
warrantable, and  extensively  pernicious. 

Still  the  question  of  its  propriety  must  be 
tried,  not  by  examples  of  its  abuse,  nor  by 
its  unpopularity,  but  by  the  principles  on 
which  it  is  founded.  This  cannot  be  done, 
without  examining  the  nature  of  the  claim 
which  a  particular  congregation  has  to  her 
minister. 


CHURCH    OP    GOD.  175 

The  pastoral  connexion  is  commonly  com- 
pared to  a  matrimonial  connexion;  which, 
being  for  life,  the  popular  inference  is,  that 
the  pastoral  connexion  also  is  for  life. 

This  proves  nothing,  except  the  facility 
with  which  most  people  impose  upon  them- 
selves by  sounds  and  similes.  A  simile  is  no 
argument.  And  the  simile  of  a  man  and  his 
wife,  to  denote  a  pastor  and  his  congregation, 
is  peculiarly  unhappy.  If  it  is  to  prescribe 
the  duration  of  their  union,  it  must  also  regu- 
late the  discharge  of  their  duties.  Now,  as 
married  persons  must  confine  their  matri- 
monial intercourse  to  themselves,  not  allow- 
mg  a  participation  in  it  to  any  other,  this 
simile,  working  up  the  ministerial  relation 
into  a  sort  of  pastoral  matrimony,  would 
render  it  absolutely  unlawful  in  a  minister  to 
hold  religious  communion  with  any  other 
people,  and  in  his  people  to  hold  religious 
communion  with  any  other  minister.  Nor, 
if  a  minister's  just  maintenance  should  grow 
inconvenient  to  a  people's  finances,  or  he 
should  fall  into  disfavour,  even  without  any 
charge  of  misconduct,  would  they  think  it 
sound  reasoning  to  turn  upon  them  with  their 
own  simile,  and  say,  "A  minister  and  his 
people  are  as  husband  and  wife.  A  wife 
takes  her  husband  for  better,  for  worse ;  so 
did  you  take  your  minister;  and  as  you  took 
him  you  must  keep  him.  The  plea  of  po- 
verty or  disgust  is  of  no  avail;  a  woman 
is  not  to  quit  her  husband  whenever  she 
thinks  that  he  spends  too  much  of  the  fortune 


176  CHURCH    OP    GOD. 

she  brought  hhn;  nor  is  she  to  run  away  from 
him  merely  because  she  does  not  Uke  him 
any  longer,  or  has  a  fancy  for  some  one  else. 
This  is  no  better  than  downright  adultery: 
and  such  is  the  behaviour  of  a  congregation, 
who  has  grown  tired  of  a  minister,  and  wishes 
to  get  rid  of  him."  It  would  be  very  hard 
to  persuade  a  congregation  that  this  is  correct 
reasoning;  and  yet  it  is  exactly  such  reason- 
ing as  we  hear  every  day  against  the  removal 
of  a  minister,  grounded  on  the  notion  of  some- 
thing like  a  marriage  covenant  between  him 
and  his  charge.  The  reasoning  proceeds  from 
feelings  pretty  general  among  men,  prompt- 
ing them  to  prefer  a  bargain  which  shall  be 
all  on  one  side,  and  that  side  their  own. 
They  wish  to  have  the  whole  comfort  with- 
out risk  of  privations  on  the  one  hand,  or  of 
irksome  burdens  on  the  other.  It  is  perfectly 
equitable  in  their  eyes,  that  a  minister  should 
leave  them  to  better  their  situation;  but  to 
leave  them  in  order  to  better  his  oivn,  is 
almost,  if  not  altogether,  an  adulterous  de- 
sertion ;  and  even  if  it  be  to  forward,  upon  a 
larger  scale,  and  with  more  efficacy,  the  ad- 
vantage of  Christ's  kingdom,  his  authoritative 
removal,  is  little,  if  at  all,  less  than  robbery ! 

But  let  us  be  just.  It  is  not  the  people 
only  who  adopt  this  preposterous  reason- 
ing. Ministers  have  too  frequently  fallen 
into  the  same  error;  and,  in  some  instances, 
they  have  exactly  reversed  the  popular  con- 
clusions; stating  it  as  good  and  wholesome 
doctrine^  that  a  minister  should  have  it  in  his 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  177 

power  to  retain  his  cure  as  long  as  he  pleases ; 
and  to  resign  it  when  he  pleases;  but  should 
by  no  means  be  subject  to  removal  Avhen  the 
people  wish  it; — thus,  in  their  turn,  making 
the  bargain  all  on  their  own  side.  This  is 
paltry  work.  In  so  far  as  it  arisen  from  honest 
opinion,  it  springs  out  of  a  radical  mistake,, 
which  is  to  be  rectified  by  considering  how 
the  unity  of  the  visible  church  affects  minis- 
terial character  and  labours. 

The  mistake  is  this:  that  "a  minister  and 
his  congregation  possess  each  other,  if  I  may 
so  word  it,  in  a  mutual  fee  simple — that  they 
have  an  exclusive  and  absolute  right  to  each 
other;  whereas  no  such  possession,  no  such 
right  does,  or  can,  exist. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  "  ascend- 
ed up  on  high,  leading  captivity  captive,  gave 
gifts  unto  men.  And  lie  gave  some,"  (i.  e. 
some  whom  he  gave  were,)  "apostles;  and 
some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists;  and 
some, pastors  and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints;  for  the  work  of  the  ministry;  for 
the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  Eph.  iv. 

Here  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  said  to  be 
Christ's  ascension-gift  to  his  church!  But 
what  church?  Certainly  not  a  particular 
congregation,  for  the  gift  includes  ministers 
who  never  could  be  confined  to  so  limited  a 
charge.  No  one  particular  congregation;  no, 
nor  any  section  of  Christians,  though  contain- 
ing many  congregations,  could  appropriate 
to  themselves  the  labours  of  an  apostle,  or 
an  evangelist.  These  were,  beyond  all  con- 
16* 


178  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

tradiction,  officers  of  the  church  catholic,  or 
of  the  church  visible.  But  it  is  to  the  same 
church  that  Christ  has  given  the  ordinary 
ministry,  "  pastors  and  teachers.''  They  are 
included  in  one  and  the  same  gift.  There- 
fore, a  minister  belongs  primarily  and  imme- 
diately to  the  church  catholic;  and  only  me- 
diately, that  is,  through  the  medium  of  the 
church  catholic,  is  assigned  to  a  particular 
congregation.  It  is,  of  course,  her  province 
and  duty  to  determine  how,  and  where,  he 
shall  be  employed.  The  only  rule  of  judg- 
ment is,  the  greatest  amount  of  benefit  lohich 
may  accrue  from  his  services  to  the  interests 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  The  determi- 
nation of  this  point  must  be  confided  to  such 
a  portion  of  the  church  catholic,  assembled  in 
judicatory,  (since  it  is  impossible  for  the  whole 
to  meet,)  as  shall  secure,  according  to  human 
probabilities,  a  wise  and  impartial  decision. 
To  lodge  such  a  power  in  the  hands  of  a  par- 
ticular congregation,  would  be  manifestly  im- 
proper; for  it  would  not  only  make  one  set 
of  men  the  judges  in  their  own  case,  and  in 
their  neighbour's  too,  but  would  subject  the 
great  interests  of  the  church  of  God  to  the 
control  of  persons  unfurnished  with  sufficient 
information,  often  impassioned,  always  pre- 
possessed; and,  therefore,  incapable  of  ^'judg- 
ing righteous  judgment."  Mistakes,  and  im- 
proprieties will,  no  doubt,  occur,  be  the  pow- 
er where  it  may:  because  perfection  is  to  be 
found  no  where.  Yet,  when  a  question  is  to 
be  tried  before  a  court  composed  of  represen- 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  179 

tatives  from  several  particular  churches,  hav- 
ing much  more  ability,  and  better  opportuni- 
ties of  informing  themselves,  than  the  mass 
of  any  congregation  can  have;  being  also 
free  from  that  selfish  bias  to  which  the  best 
minds  and  hearts  are  liable  from  calculations 
directly  affecting  themselves,  it  is  in  as  fair  a 
way  of  being  decided  well,  as  the  imperfec- 
tion of  man  admits.  When  such  a  court, 
then,  fixes  the  pastoral  relation  between  a 
minister  and  a  congregation,  it  does  not  sur- 
render him  up  absolutely  to  them;  nor  wed 
them  to  each  other  for  hfe.  It  places  him 
there,  because  it  believes  that  his  labours 
there  will  be,  upon  the  whole,  most  useful  to 
the  church  at  large.  And  the  principle  which 
regulates  the  formation,  must  also  regulate 
the  continuance,  of  his  pastoral  relations.  He 
is  to  remain  so  long  as  the  church  of  God 
shall  gain  more  by  his  continuance  than  by 
his  removal,  and  no  longer.  Whenever  it 
shall  clearly  appear  that  his  labours  may  be 
turned  to  better  account  by  his  removal  than 
by  his  continuance, he  ought  to  be  removed: 
not,  however,  at  his  own  discretion,  or  the 
discretion  of  his  people,  but  upon  the  same 
careful  examination  by  the  church  represen- 
tative, as  preceded  his  first  settlement.  We 
repeat,  that  it  would  be  unreasonable  and 
unrighteous,  to  let  an  individual  or  a  congre- 
gation possess  the  power  of  sacrificing  to  their 
narrow  gratification,  the  interest  of  the  Chris- 
tian community.    Ministers,  then,  must  be  in 


ISO  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

that  situation  which  shall  render  their  labours 
of  the  greatest  utility.  They  are  ordinarily 
joined  to  parochial  cliarges;  because  this, 
upon  the  whole,  is  the  best  practical  system; 
and  not  because  their  charges  have  an  exclu- 
sive property  in  them.  Tiie  claims  of  the 
church  at  large,  always  supersede  the  claims 
of  any  particular  part;  so  that  whatever  be 
the  attachment  of  a  people  to  their  minister, 
or  of  a  minister  to  his  people,  when  the  gener- 
al claim  is  set  up,  their  particular  feelings 
must  give  Avay;  and  Ibat  upon  this  self-evi- 
dent truth,  that  the  whole  is  greater  than  a 
part.  Pui'siring  the  same  reasoning,  we  per- 
ceive, that  whelhcr  a  minister  sliall  have  a 
congregation  or  not,  is  a  question  of  second- 
ary importance ;  and  is  to  be  answered  by  a 
prudent  cousideratioii  of  tlie  previous  ques- 
tion— whether  he  is  likely  to  be  more  exten- 
sively useful  with  or  without  a  congregation? 
That  removals  from  charges  where  men 
are  beloved  and  useful,  ought  not  to  be  rash; 
ought  not  to  take  place,  without  the  most  solid 
reasons;  ought,  in  all  cases,  to  be  managed 
with  circumspection  and  with  dignity;  that 
the  very  uneasiness  excited  b}^  such  removals, 
ought  to  be  weighed  in  the  balances  among 
the  strong  reasons  against  them,  are  dictates 
of  common  sense  and  equity;  and  no  wise 
judicatory  will  ever  disregard  them.  But 
that  the  principle  is  sound — that  a  minister 
may  lawfully  be  removed  from  one  charge 
to  another;   or  from  one  species  of  labour 


CHURCH    OF    GOD.  181 

to  another,  cannot  be  controverted,  without 
tearing  up  the  foundations  of  the  whole 
church  of  God. 

Finally.  A  very  important  result  from  the 
foregoing  discussions  concerning  the  nature 
of  the  church  is,  that  no  form  of  church  go- 
vernment  can  he  scriptural,  ivhich  is  not 
adapted  to  this  broad  and  master-principle, 
that  the  visible  church  is  one. 

Her  external  organization  must  be  such  as 
shall  show  her  to  the  world,  as  a  living  body, 
according  to  the  apostle's  figure.  Eph.  iv.  12, 
16.  She  must,  therefore,  have  principles, 
and  means,  of  common  action.  The  whole 
must  control  the  parts — She  must  have  a 
power  of  self-preservation,  which  includes, 

1.  A  power  of  commanding  the  agency  of 
any  particular  member: 

2.  A  power  of  combining  the  agency  of 
all  her  members : 

3.  A  power  of  providing  for  her  nourish- 
ment and  health: 

4.  A  power  of  expelling  impurities  and 
corruptions. 

These  things  are  essential  to  her  organiza- 
tion according  to  the  description  given  of  her 
in  the  word  of  God.  We  close  with  one  re- 
mark— that  a  number  of  particular  churches 
not  united  in  mutual  dependence,  and  not  fur- 
nished with  a  principle  of  living  efficiency  in 
one  common  system, so  as  to  bring  the  strength 
of  the  whole  to  operate  in  any  part,  or  through 
all  the  parts  collectively,  as  occasion  may 
require,  no  more  resemble  the  visible  church 


182  CHURCH    OF    GOD. 

of  Christ,  than  the  limbs  of  the  human  body, 
dissevered,  and  not  "fitly  joined  together, 
and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint 
supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working 
in  the  measure  of  every  part,"  resemble  a 
healthy  man. 


THE    END. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Librar; 


1012  01123  9144 


